Was listening to the Jason Calacanis keynote the other day at Webmaster Radio – There was a lot of truth, and a lot of contradiction – heck, it was a perfect storm of linkbait without the link.

It reminded me about a fantastic web resource which many affiliate marketers could use – The Dilbert Mission Statement Generator – You too could have a meaningless statement for your company without paying $2,000,000 – something unique like:

We have committed to enthusiastically utilize parallel materials so that we may endeavor to continually disseminate ethical services to stay competitive in tomorrow’s world

Again, let’s strive for something which adds real value to the internet and our subscribers. I do not always hit this mark – but it is something to aim for…

Onward & Upward!

Just read a couple of interesting articles about the decline of Web 2.0 in venture capital circles and the advent of Web 3.0

The authors describe the “killer apps” currently being offered are very similar to each other, many take after the Technorati, Gigaom or Wikipedia “skins”. The challenge with these “killer apps” is that they are still just applications stuck in the old and out-dated form of HTML or XHTML.

The authors ask, ‘Where the truly new and innovative opportunities are in the Web 2.0 landscape?’ While we have seen solutions to cost and access to distinct compiled data, the question remains, when and how do we make the transition to the Web as a true platform rather than just a clumsy way to show text?

Even with the transition to CSS and XHTML, we are still using old & clumsy conventions which you must know how to manipulate at a Developer level, if you are going to have any hope of displaying something meaningful.

I see attempts being made to solve these questions about innovation through offerings like Squidoo and the newer Blogger interface, but, I think we are still a little way out from the “killer app” status where we can provide cheap and easy access to manipulate data which is stored on the web easily and uniquely via intuitive interfaces.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE[/video]
According to Professor Wesch of Kansas State University we must begin re-thinking the way we have done things with regards to everything based upon what Web 2.0 is bringing.

I cannot speak about everything.

Although, there seem to be plenty of folks out there responding to various global social issues having been inspired by Professor Wesch’s video.

I can speak about what I experience.

I know that over the past twelve months I have started to re-think how I run my business, and how I treat my clients in “the real world,” but this wasn’t inspired by Web 2.0 – it was inspired by watching many other people in my profession fail to provide what I would call a positive client experience.

If you were to try and correlate this experience into the Web, then I think you have the basis for what most people are trying to enable Web 2.0 to become.

Take BUMPzee! for example – The members that I have interacted with from that community have been far more interested in enabling fellow affiliate marketers to be aware of the methods and tools to be successful at their chosen niche rather than “hocking” the next “get rich quick” scheme.

Is this enabled by Web 2.0, or is it a natural result of a bunch of people getting together who were tired of the status quo? Perhaps, it is both things… Perhaps over the past ten or so years since the Internet and Web have become more widely used, we have evolved in our way of thinking about what we want this tool we call the “Internet” to become.

I do not believe, as some have supposed, that the computers which support the web are learning.

I do believe that without realizing it, we are learning to become the ghost in the machine.