It's a Web 2.0 World

Dorothy has just arrived in Oz, looking around and awed at the beauty and splendor, she remarks, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more." The Wizard of Oz, 1939

If only Dorothy had known about the internet she may have been quoted as follows, "Toto, I've a feeling that our world has been forever changed!" So true, so true, dear Dorothy. I remember my first personal encounter with the internet. It was 1993 at the Atlanta headquarters of Novell where I and several cohorts were attending a demonstration of this remarkable new technology. True to the nature of a new technology, the demo failed. That fact not withstanding, the explanation of how the internet worked as offered by the moderator was truly inspiring. Being an old hand at online news services and email, I immediately seized upon the unlimited potential this new technology offered. We've come a long way since 1993 and networks are still prone to fail from time to time, but would anyone seriously contemplate giving up on the internet? I think not! And now, we've progressed to the second iteration of the internet, to Web 2.0. Over the years succeeding the Dot Com Bust we've witnessed the introduction of new web tools as a result of increased bandwidth resulting in the web maturing to a computing platform. Among these many tools perhaps the best recognized are; blogs, mash-ups, video, and social media. The early web would hardly recognize itself.

But, given all this progress and the consumer's propensity to move their purchasing power to the web, I still find real estate agents who've elected to end their web progress at a basic utilization of email. Agents who have failed to incorporate Web 2.0 technology into their operating platform are destined for extinction in my opinion. If you're not up to speed on Web 2.0, run, don't walk to the nearest Borders, Barnes & Noble or other bookstore and purchase for yourself any book you can find with Web 2.0 in the title. And, while you're there would you please pick me up a Venti Chai Tea Latte, skinny and extra hot?