This month, our good friend Wil Arndt, from mod7 is providing a guest editorial/rant on all of the hype surrounding a white elephant that goes by the moniker “Web 2.0″. (By the way, if you are in Vancouver on June 16th, you can catch him, and Eric, at VIDFEST 2006, where they will be presenting at the Creative Exchange sessions.) So, without further ado, I leave you with Wil, and his article: Web 2.0 is Bull, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Web 2.0

To our American readers, I apologize in advance. I’m going to be writing some not so nice things about the place in which you live, and some of you may not like me so much as a result. In my defense, it’s not Americans I’m critical of; rather, I’m skeptical of this media juggernaut which takes up residency in your nation.

Around our studio the notion of original work is highly important. Perhaps this has roots in my background as a painter, where the pursuit of the new always felt quite important; however, design is not art and I ponder whether some of those aspirations are simply out of place in this pursuit.

This morning at coffee Peter, one of the designers at our firm, noted that he had a hot topic suggestion for our ideasonideas. He wasn’t kidding, but when he sent me this link I thought that someone might be. Go ahead and read the post, and see if you agree with me. We have quoted the content below.

My dad is an athlete. For many years now, he’s just been in love with sport, and as such spends any time he can running, hiking, skiing, canoeing, skating, kayaking, or mountain biking. He’s lean and tough. At around 5′6″ and 140 pounds, there’s nothing on him but efficient muscle. He just turned 61, and he’d kick the ass of the average 30 year old in any distance event.

I’m one of those people who may have gone too far. I think I’ve just “looked” too much, and now I can’t go back. A menu with bad use of type makes it difficult for me to concentrate on the meals listed. Ugly spaces actually make me feel uncomfortable, and my reaction to consumer goods is very much informed by the attention to detail in packaging and design.

I still approach the notion of a blog with some degree of trepidation. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with the notion of blogs, it’s just that I view them somewhat critically. Another self-publishing tool is always a welcome addition to the landscape; nevertheless, I have to ponder whether the blog will serve as the written sibling of desktop publishing.