While I enjoy blogging and it does put a human face to a company I don’t see it as the penultimate feature of web 2.0. However, when you talk to bloggers or the media (where journalists are pretty much just paid bloggers) you would think that blogs are the beginning and the end of Web 2.0. A recent article about the iPhone told of an AT&T customer that had ran up a $5,000 roaming bill by using the iPhone to access the Internet while in Europe. Who can deny that the mobile device and the Web 2.0 are totally united for better or worse? Steve Jobs carefully used the Internet to generate hysteria for the release of the iPhone and the popularity of the N95 has mostly been through word of mouth over the Internet.

 

In reality, blogs are a small segment of the Internet and saying outrageous things on the net does not make you any smarter than saying outrageous things on a soap box in front of the town hall. You just get laughed at by more people. While someone might think he is wise and has a cult status the truth is that blogs are a small piece of the internet communication. Anyone that thinks that a single blog is directing the way the world perceives something is mistaken.  However, when well orchestrated as in elections and iPhone releases, they can indeed be a powerful force. Like news and commentary on television where it represents about 10% of the online time there are other channels of communications we should be aware of. 

 

Stay tuned for more information on Web 2.0 and how it affects mobile developers.

 

Ron