Levels of the Game: The Hierarchy of Web 2.0 Applications

Reading Jim Fallows' new Technology Review article about his experiment in using only Web 2.0 applications for two weeks, I think: "What an odd thing to do! It's a bit like evaluating the utility of an automobile by foregoing your bedroom and sleeping in the back seat of your car for two weeks." Fallows is insightful, and he makes some good points (more on that later), but he also reveals just how hard it is for people to wrap their heads around Web 2.0. He says "Web 2.0's most important step forward seems to be the widespread adoption of Ajax." Alas, that is a common misconception.