Blogger Paul Beaulieu (monkeys.slapjack.com) who works as a senior Internet strategy consultant for IBM in his offline hours, says as the Social Web (also referred to as Web 2.0) takes hold, the Web itself will break free of the browser and become a more integral part of our daily experience, in the same way instant messaging and e-mail have over the past ten years. Beaulieu says while there’s some degree of “irrational exuberance” occurring at the moment, with big players spending hundreds of millions to snap up social networking spaces, some of the enthusiasm is well-founded. Here are Beaulieu’s predictions on how Web 2.0 will exert a profound influence on how we work and play: “Blogging is here to stay and its influence on product/technology development, media, politics, etc. will continue to grow. The perpetual beta will continue to be adopted as the best practice in developing applications. At its core, a perpetual beta approach is about moving from user-centered design to user-driven design. The ability to create trust will be come a critical success factor for organizations as competition becomes more and more intense.” (Embracing the Monkeys)
Relevant Links
- Embracing the Monkeys
- Tech Crunch
- Web 2.0 Workgroup