RSS is a hammer

We’re all excited by the promises of Web 2.0, we’re all awaiting the next really neat remix application/service of data, meta-data, analysis and presentation. But let’s not fall for the “I have a hammer, so all problems look like a nail” trap. In my opinion, Dave Winer goes one step to far when he says:

(on Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 Meme map)
Web 2.0 is really simple, it’s RSS 2.0.
on scripting.com

Similarly, in a comment on the excellent “The Web 2.0 is here” article, Scott Johnson writes:

Ajax is where it’s at. Ajax is the driving force behind 2.0.
(on web2.wsj2.com)

It’s not because you have particularly strong feelings about one building block of the Web 2.0 temple that you can simplify the whole thing. RSS is important. Ajax is important. And so are REST/XMLRPC/SOAP, KML, social software, folksonomies, contextual advertising, “Long tail” logic, Creative Commons, … It’s the sum of all these forces that hint at a future “Web 2.0” that’s bigger and brighter.

In the meantime, I don’t think Tim O’Reilly’s chart is very clear, and even Dion Hinchcliffe’s effort is not 100% clear, I’m working on a visualisation of Web 2.0 on my own.

UPDATE: check my article Web2.0 Mememap Overview

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