Web 2.0 - how appropriate is the technology?

Web 2.0 is the internet buzz word of the moment - if you are not sure what it means see here. Even if you do know what it means you may wish to remind yourself by reading Tim O’Reilly's explanation since he is credited as the inventor of the term. But I am thinking may be we need to take a step back before becoming too over zealous with the concept when applying or using it in Africa or other areas of the Global South. As this article points out, Web 2.0 enthusiasts often forget that the whole world is NOT connected via BROADBAND. Nor are all BROADBANDS equal. For example Broadband in Ghana is much slower than Broadband in England which in my experience is slower than Broadband in the US which may be slower than in Korea.

To return to the article which states

Now I realize that Mr. O’Reilly is accepted as being a very smart man who has had quite an impact on the Internet but as I read things like what he says I begin to worry. I worry because this ever increasing push to move everything we do; from the office to our social interactions, to the web we continually ignore one of the most important requirements for this Internet Operating System (IOS) - ubiquitous and equitable broadband access.

Or - is it possible that all these IOS evangelists do in fact realize that this barrier exists and it doesn’t bother them. After all what better way to keep out the riff raff who are polluting the purity of their Internet.

I would add that it is not just the technology where there is a divide but in the level of understanding of the technology itself. Most people I come across here in the UK who use the internet every day still have no idea what is a blog or Web 2.0 or Google Apps. In short there are two issues here one is the technological divide and one is the "understanding technology" divide which is as much evident in the West as anywhere else. For thoese of us who are using Web 2.0 and part of the blogging techie community we often take it for granted that everyone knows what we know - we need to step back on this and realise that most people dont know and dont even care what we are talking about.