Does anyone else feel like we’re right smack in the middle of the hype all over again? On my flight back from Toronto this week, I stopped in to the magazine store and grabbed the latest issue of The Economist magazine, which had the cover story, Who Killed The Newspaper?, and then I grabbed the latest issue of Business 2.0, which had the cover story, Blogging For Dollars. I also happened to be carrying the latest issue of Wired, which had Beck on the cover and the title, The Rebirth Of Music. Guess what’s playing a major role in this rebirth? Yep… you guessed it.
So, what’s the difference between now and the late nineties?
The technology works. It takes much less people and resources to develop something huge (see Craigslist, MySpace or Digg for validation), almost anybody who wants high-speed access can get it and, most importantly, everything works. On top of that, the users, consumers, prosumers or whatever you want to call us, are in control. We’re making the connections, engaging and immersing ourselves in their new environment.
Sure does beat being pushed a bunch of content that has some, but not total, relevance.
There’s some good long weekend reading here:
The Economist – Who Killed The Newspaper.

Business 2.0 – Blogging For Dollars.

Wired Magazine – The Rebirth of Music.