Occasionally, I’ll come up with an idea that seems so overwhelmingly useful, needed, or just plain interestingly fun, that I’ll begin to consider how I might implement it. When such an idea relates to the internet, I’ll oftentimes first implement it here at plexAV.com. That’s when I open the laptop, open the FTP client, open the text editor or the IDE, open the web browser, open a can of RedBull, and start to crawl ahead into the darkness of the unknown. The way is dimly illuminated; by the glow of the screen and my own sense of curiosity.

When I’m knee deep in PHP, Javascript, CSS, HTML, et al., there’s nothing that makes life easier than someone else who knows what they’re doing, doing the work for me. When such a person isn’t available, then I at least search to find a good tool to use. Note the distinction between a person and a tool. A person is obviously (at least to me) not like a tool in that a person ought not be ‘used.’ A person generally is due (and ought to expect) some form of compensation, whether that be cash, comestibles, housing, a new computer, etc., and one ought happily and generously provide such.

“Happily” in the proceeding refers to one’s motivation for paying a person. The measure of compensation ought not be based upon the difference between the amount or quality of a person’s work product and that achieved by oneself (perhaps aided by some tool), or another. Instead, compensation ought to reflect one’s appreciation for the creative time a person spends focusing on another’s ideas and acting to realize such.

The difference will seem insignificant to some, and fewer still may consider the foregoing an exercise in hyperbole. Yet I doubt that anyone so insensitive, so inured to the significance between these two motivations, would characterize the distinction as overstatement, intentionally exaggerated for effect.

To those that refuse to consider the foregoing and feel that reading this essay has been a waste of time, consider the following. The amount of creative time each of you has spent focused on these ideas is itself insignificant, and as such, you are fully compensated by the author’s present consideration.

To each of you considering the foregoing, please “comment” with your criticisms, clarifications, or questions. In keeping with the idea, I grant to anyone so “commenting”, a perpetual non-exclusive license in and to the copyright for the present essay.

Summum Bonum,

Kenneth Stein

Copyright 2008 Kenneth L. Stein

All Rights Reserved under U.S. Copyright Law
and all other applicable U.S. and foreign laws.

1. O’Reilly ought not profit as a result of this type of exploitative behavior, and
2. Whatever the present phenomena may be called, those responsible for making it a reality ought to share in the privilege of using the name.

Both these reasons make sense. O’Reilly, as the outfit credited with coining the term, must be held accountable for attempting to exploit those of us who have conceptualized and implemented the ideas to which the term ‘Web2.0′ has been attached. Additionally, the term ought to generically define the present phenomena and should therefore be freely usable.There is another powerful reason to now jettison ‘Web2.0′. By asserting proprietary rights in the term, O’Reilly has chosen exploitation as Web2.0’s defining trait. This cannot stand. We must reach consensus on a name that signifies a point of departure from ‘Web2.0′ and the idea of exploitation. The name must also indicate an ideal towards which we may strive, a standard by which we measure our progress in realizing a vision for the Web and for people in general.

Perhaps O’Reilly was blinded by greed and thereby failed to notice the trait that accurately defines the current state-of-affairs, Cooperation. In the spirit of cooperation, I suggest that we adopt the name Web2.U. By including a portion of the old term, one is easily able to distinguish the new name. At the same time, by incorporating the ideal that the web is fundamentally about each person who participates in its creation and use, we acknowledge the value of the individual. It is only in recognizing and valuing the individual, You, that the web will be transformed into a space that promotes the ideals of personal growth and cooperation. See Web2.U - A Standard for more.

To allay any concerns, I disclaim all right, title and interest in and to the word Web2.U as it may be used in association with any thing.

Summum Bonum.