We talk about connection a lot. We talk about social objects, social networks... technology to connect people.
But for all that, a lot of the time we remain distracted by the tools we're using. The experience is often "using the service" rather than "connecting with friends".
Then there are some moments which show us what connection really means.
What follows is Web Directions South 2008, as seen on my flickr and twitter streams. With some annotations where I felt it was appropriate. I kind of like the picture that emerges :)
Social networking discussion seems to focus on which service will kill another, which ones are going to be the winners or losers. But as far as I'm concerned, I don't want them to kill each other; I just want them to let me publish once and syndicate wherever I choose.
A key point of ridicule for Web 2.0 is the endless use of non-final version releases - Perpetual Beta. As I've observed before, Flickr is a notable offender.
Now they have either done it again with the most ridiculous version yet; or maybe they've finally realised that they can call it whatever they want - they're taking money so it's bloody well final.
Flickr has gone through alpha, beta, gamma and now the logo just says "loves you" where it used to say gamma. It's certainly an odd version number. What comes next? Flickr "loves you more... no you hang up... no!... ok let's hang up together... 1, 2, 3... you didn't hang up!".
Sure, Flickr's a great service - I paid up after all - but their approach to version numbering is weird. Not to mention the fact that at this point, the numbers are only really useful internally. Marking a site as Beta just alerts people that the service is not finalised. Flickr really can't argue that point any more.
So anyway, Flickr loves us. Does that mean it's out of gamma? :) The logo's file name is flickr_logo_gamma.gif.v1.5.gif so who knows.
Update: Mystery solved! Turns out a couple got married after meeting on Flickr, so the crew at Flickr were having some fun marking the occasion. Awww ;)
Like a child refusing to count to ten, Flickr has found yet another way to stall the idea of acting like they have released a product. We've had alpha and beta, now Flickr has gone into gamma: FlickrBlog | Alpha... Beta... Gamma! I can't help but wonder if we're going to go through every step to omega before they try 1.0.
Seriously - I don't understand what the harm would be in just drawing a line in the code and calling it v1.0. They have thousands of users and presumably millions of photos. The system works. They provide support. They take money.
Web 2.0 chic ran out somewhere during beta. C'mon Flickr, go 1.0!