ClassDC

In 1873, the word “upgrade” still meant an actual incline. You would only say “2.0″ (and this is a stretch) if someone asked what is three point oh minus one point oh…

And here we are, in the year of 2.0(08), and everything’s something point something, and I say something only because that something will probably be something plus one or something point something before too long. If that sentence confused you, good for you!

I will be the first to admit — when Apple released the updated firmware for the iPhone, I was the first one to go home and bump my phone from 1.1.3 to 1.1.4.  Yes, 2 “points” in each–supposedly implying that this “upgrade” wasn’t essential. Yeah, I still did it. And I continue to read RSS feeds every day about new versions of every piece of free/shareware I have. If I don’t have it, I feel empty. It’s quite sad actually. I’ll end up spending 4 hours upgrading my system to do a 30 minute project because some weird OCD-demon keeps whispering in my ear, “If it’s not 3.8.6.4, it’s not the real thing….” “If it’s not Firefox 3 Release Candidate 3 with the top ten add-ons, then you’re not a man… real men use version 3.0″

Yes, that’s my pathetic life. I spend hours tweaking my computer (that’s geek vernacular for adjusting settings in Windows, for example) to see if I can get my download speeds from 13,534 kbps to 15,000 or higher. I’m paying Cox an extra 15 bucks a month for their legendary powerboost. I want my 15MBPS darn it.

This obsession with tweaking isn’t always so bad.

Put a tweaker in front of a computer, give them a budget on AdWords, and watch miracles happen. That’s all PPC is about… test, tweak, test, adjust, tweak, adjust, test, test….

Web 2.0 is making this obsession possible, putting all the tools in front of one person. He can create buzz on a blog, comment on another, link John in, book Jenny’s face, step in my space, and flicker on my screen. He can run a multi-million dollar advertising campaign from his desk, get real time analytics, and tweak to his heart’s content with unlimited permutations of keyword/content selection… and since Google will never tell us the real secret to their madness… we’ll keep tweaking and tweaking on.

And since everyone can do everything now… (and everyone knows everything now too, thanks Google)…

Great.

It’s an endless cycle.

I had a wall, but now I need a super wall. Oh wait, now you can draw on walls too?

Doesn’t really matter though… I’m still not as popular as Johnny. He has 15,345 friends. And 20 thousand posts on his wall (not counting the graffiti)…

I knew I should’ve upgraded. I hear you can super poke now too.