Radio UserLand and Web 2.0

Radio UserLand and Web 2.0.

I've
tried to write this post several times, never quite knowing where to
start or stop. Instead of making this more structured, I figured I'd
ramble a bit. The title is a misnomer, but we'll cover it at some
point, OK?

First, I'm in the Russ Beattie camp
that the current Web 2.0 craze is a bit over the top. Web apps are not
going to replace desktop apps, and I don't say that because I manage
the care and feeding of one. Web apps will replace some apps for
people, especially when the use is a commodity and the value (to the
user) is low. For example, I don't use my normal email program to
monitor email lists: Gmail does it for me. Why? It's simpler. I don't
have to manage a mass of mail locally or on my ISP's servers. It's
Google problem. Most of all, I assign very little personal value to the
content of those emails, therefore I don't mind if Google is involved.
Private email or corporate email has a very high value to me so I
manage it with a local app (in my case Mail.app) using it's power to
sort and store.

Note that the concepts or uses are that much
different. It's the value *I* assign to the information that makes me
pick web vs. local.

Flickr is a good companion to iPhoto for me. I have a Flickr account
and I use it to store generic photos I want to share. Especially photos
I want to share and have a low value to me if they are on the web. I
have hundreds more photos on my local machine managed with iPhoto than
I do on the web with Flickr. Again I asked the rhetorical “why?” and
the answer is the same. It's simple to use and I assign very little
personal value to the content that's out there.

So what about Radio? How does it fit in to my theory?

It doesn't.

Radio
is a local app for writing a weblog or managing web-based written
content. It's outline metaphor suites me well. It's scripting and code
writing abilities are unique and powerful when learned and applied
correctly. Can it be replaced by a magic buzzword-enabled Web 2.0-ish
app?

No.

Radio is *all about control* and that's something
that you have to give up when you use the Gmail/Flickr apps on the web.
You can no longer fully control your content and information, how it's
accessed and what happens to it while you're not looking. I like that
control. I've invested nearly three years into learning the environment
and how to control it to ensure that my words, my scripts and my
content is under my control.

Sure, there's a lot of stuff out on the server that anyone can get. Current favorites are a picture of an azalea bush from earlier this year and the street sign
in front of Apple Computer in Cupertio. I let people download them,
link them directly from their site, get cited as their own, etc. I
don't like it, but much like my front lawn, I can't really control what
happens to it when I'm at work. I made the conscious decision to do
that and Radio helps me keep things straight.

Summary:

Your
words, pictures and other content that is part of the public web has a
value to you. Make sure that you fully understand the value and are
using the best tools to control your content. I use Radio because it's
the right tool for me  [house of warwick]

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