Ross Mayfield on on Many2Many notes that Web 2.0 (aka the two-way web, etc) is an attempt to create the next e-mail. The current version doesn’t suit anyone’s purposes anymore:
The reason we are building Web 2.0 is because we were not able to build Email 2.0. The first web didn’t support our social needs, so we used email for everything. But we couldn’t really hack it. Most social software has by now adapted to email, but email could never have adapted to it.
Given all the hype around Web 2.0 over the past few weeks, I think that this may be the best elevator pitch so far, – Web 2.0 is the next stage in the evolution of Internet technologies that are everywhere and anyone can use them – including your grandparents. For me, the closest tool to E-Mail 2.0 so far is ELGG, but we’ll see what else comes down the pipe.
