Follow-up on Web 2.0 Greed

I am a capitalist through and through. Yes, I am an Adam Smith FAN. I believe that, on a macro level, a free trade society generally improves because, on a micro level, free people make smart choices. And I know its really not that simple but it is a good guiding principle for any layperson or expert in economics to remember.

(SIDENOTE: I think Adam Smith and Dale Carnegie would have got along great)

But I will take one more shot at illogical people and greed. In my last post, I wrote on a great post by Om Malik about the resurgence of Web 2.0 speculation. Malik is senior writer at Business 2.0. His take on the current tone in Web 2.0 was, therefore, from a business perspective.

Now here is another post from a different perspective. A List Apart explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards.

Jeffrey Zeldman, over at alistapart, writes an excellent article on how the frenzy of greed may have once again overtaken common sense. While no one will forget what happened when greed set in the first time around, investors et al. are choosing to ignore lessons from the past by labelling it "Web 1.0" and by believing "Web 2.0" is really all that different.

In fact, Zeldman intimates, design fads are determining value for websites, services and blogs far too much. AJAX, a tender new tot in the design world, is still experiencing growing pains. The investment community is treating it like a bonafide Olympic star when its really just learning to run.

Here's a closing snippet from the article:

To you who are toiling over an AJAX- and Ruby-powered social software product, good luck, God bless, and have fun. Remember that 20 other people are working on the same idea. So keep it simple, and ship it before they do, and maintain your sense of humor whether you get rich or go broke. Especially if you get rich. Nothing is more unsightly than a solemn multi-millionaire.

Oui, oui.
-Marc