Part I: Web 2.0 > Online Project Management > Gmail > Outlook > VBA > Labels


Part I: Web 2.0



Have you recently come across the expression "Web 2.0"? Well, in all honesty, presuming that you live somewhere in the western world and have access to the Internet, it would be hard to see how you could have avoided that term. The World Wide Web, Version Number Two. Sounds exciting! But what does it exactly stand for? An attempt to define the notion of a second generation Internet can be found at wikipedia: Web 2.0. The article discusses some of the characteristics of the new Web; its main ingredients like social networking, collaboration of the people, an ever expanding net of linked sites and shared services, the rapid growth of web based content (wikis being just one example) and functionality, and much more. The authors don't hide the fact that "Given the lack of set standards as to what "Web 2.0" actually means, implies, or requires, the term can mean radically different things to different people."

I'm one of those different people. I love Web 2.0! Exclamation mark.


Why? Do I dare to compare the Web to a huge playground for reluctant adults? I've long left my childhood years, my teenage years and even my twenties behind, but still I love to play, to explore, and to discover. In all of these aspects, the new Web is immensely exciting. Interaction is one of the keys to the built-in fun of Web 2.0.


Do you need a Customer Relation Management (CRM) tool? Go ahead, you'll find more than one hosted service. You might even be able to find a decent and free solution, if you can live with the ads. Do you feel voyeuristic today? How about a visit to YouTube or Google Video? The slogan of the first one is "Broadcast Yourself", and that's exactly what people do. You can safely abandon your feeling of shame: At YouTube the intimate aspects of other people's lives are spread out for your entertainment. The ultimate rendezvous between exhibitionist and voyeur, so to speak!

Ever heard of that Russian website that allows you to choose and buy from hundreds of thousands of songs - dirt cheap and without any Digital Rights Management? Using their service might or might not be legal for you, depending on where you live. But back to business: Are you part of an international team and working on small to large-sized projects? You have already experienced the hassle of communication through different time zones, of keeping distributed project plans up to date and in sync, of exchanging files through email...

An online Project Management System would make your life a lot easier, wouldn't it? Web 2.0 comes to rescue; you can have your online project management system on your own servers, or, and this is especially interesting for small and medium sized teams, use a hosted service. Somebody else will keep your system running, care for the safety of your data and provide you with ever increasing functionality. And again, some very good services are even available for free.

The list could be expanded easily since every day new "things" are born on the Internet. Web based TV recording, shared writeboards, spreadsheets and calendars, interactive world and city maps, translation services, and incredible much more.


So, all heaven, no hell? In a few years the Internet might well replace the classical "entertainment" distribution channels, for example TV and Radio. Already bandwidth is high enough for transmission of video content, and more and more of such content is going to be available. I guess all that Hollywood is waiting for is a securer than secure DRM for the Internet (sigh)! What will be the implications? If services like TV and Radio are fully available on the Net, the integration of the Internet into our daily lives will become even tighter. TV as the most widespread one-way street in history is going to be replaced by a multifunctional, interactive, worldwide available, all embracing NET. A medium that omnipresent, with its sheer limitless possibilities will inevitable reflect to some extend our human nature and the things we are capable off, in very positive but also in the most negative ways.

But stop, I'm drifting off. Back to Web 2.0 ... Are there any negative side effects to this wonderful (or maybe not so wonderful?) development? Well, one downside of all these useful new services is that we become more and more transparent on our way through the virtual world.


Imagine the Internet user of the future (a future which has long begun, by the way): She communicates on a very personal level with her international friends through a social online network. The owner of this service also provides her with an email account and a calendar, which she uses extensively to keep her community up to date on the events of her life. Of course she has registered the email account under her real name, as required by the TOS. Under the same name she is a registered member at an established online bookstore, where she maintains a public wish list for her family and friends: this way they will get a better idea of what she is interested in and can choose their little presents accordingly. The items she herself buys on the Internet she pays for using the online payment service that her email provider conveniently also offers. Since she spends a lot of time online she needs an efficient way to access information; therefore she uses a search engine that analyzes and stores her search terms in order to tailor the results more to her specific needs. The operator of this search engine is accidentally again the provider of her email account and her social networking platform. Oh, and have I mentioned that she publishes her holiday pictures on a large photo sharing website?

How does this sound? Depending on your level of paranoia you might be shrugging your shoulders or starting to feel a little uncomfortably. Personally, at this point I'm still willing do assume that none of the respectable online services are "doing evil" :-). Although, if somebody had the intention to create a profile on the woman from the example it wouldn't proof to be difficult, and the results would be very comprehensive. One argument I frequently hear is: "Well, if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about!" Is it really that simple? Or is there a chance that you just maybe will not get this particular dream-job because the HR director did not agree with the choices you had made on your public wish list at the aforementioned online bookstore? The answer is yours ...


Sometimes I wonder how much we can rely on our privacy-rights in times when governments desperately grab all the data they can get a hold of in their fight against international terrorism, in times of big business and advertising wars, in times of phishing, root kits and trojan horses.

So do I still love the Web 2.0? Yes, I do! But occasionally it turns, as with many things in life, into a kind of love and hate relationship. Have I already mentioned that I like to play? Well, most of the time the game is more fun if you know the rules and are equipped with the proper safety gear.



Feel welcome to post your thoughts ...


Are you part of a distributed project team? Do you ever wonder how you are going to keep your team connected? Are you in need of an online project management tool? Are you tired of swapping important files back and forth through email? Are you looking for a reliable, web-based file storage system? Continue in Part II !

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