Thing 15: The 2.0 Thing

The things about 2.0 that I like:
*User driven content
*Customizing ability
*Interactive
*Social

It's exciting and fun. Really!

Challenges:
*Infrastructure - that cool Google map mashup loses its effectiveness if your Internet connection is so slow that it takes 5 minutes to load
*Digital Divide - users who do not have computers at home do not have hours to spend on the Internet playing with the latest 2.0 widget - they need what they need now, not for fun, but for survival. They do not have the luxury of play. Many of the customization and convenience aspects of 2.0 mean nothing to them. All they know is that they have to use the Internet to apply for a job. The trip to the store where they want to work now involves an additional trip to the library to use technology unfamiliar to them.
*Literacy - all of this 2.0 stuff is useless to the person who cannot read.
*Perpetual beta is not a working environment compatible with government bureaucracy

Please stop telling me my profession is close to disaster if I do not pay heed to 2.0. I am trying to learn. My head is not stuck in the sand. I am living and working in a real place with actual living breathing customers who need help right now. Thank you!