My Happy Valley Blog

Since I have to admit I’m probably not as up to date on all of the Web 2.0 tools as I probably should be, I thought the conference session, “More Than Cool Tools”, with Brian Lamb, Alan Levine, and D’Arcy Norman seemed like it would be a good session to view. It sounded like it would give me a good overview and I wasn’t disappointed in this respect. Combining what we had talked about in class and their discussions, I feel like I have a little better understanding of what the 21st century holds.
As a programmer from the 20th century (I won’t say how far back), when not only did you pay for everything, but it wasn’t cheap and system resources and memory were a premium. Software didn’t just need to be accurate, it needed to be efficient. So the idea that there are so many free applications available and that they are willing to host everyone’s large data files still amazes me. I know I probably wear more memory around my neck now, than there used to be in the rows of big machines in the basements of the office buildings back then – but still!
So not only are all of these Web 2.0 tools free, but a lot of them are compatible with each other. The fact that they are free and in a lot of ways, appear to offer more flexibility and options than some of the software we pay a lot of money for is amazing. One in particular that I’m looking forward to checking out is google.doc.

In spite of all the really cool things available on the internet, we all know that there are also some pretty negative things out there too. This is at least touched on in this session, but there is definitely more in this area that I need to learn.
Finally, at one point they reference how this field is growing exponentially and whether or not we can we make sense of it all. I can’t help but wonder if twenty years down the road (assuming we’re still here), will we be left behind – just not having a clue?