Reading this chapter was very much like getting started in this class! From the concepts of making a new user experience to the options of remixing the web for differing uses. But it also made me wonder - are we now at web 3.0? Or even 4.0? And ask then if not, what will 4.0 look like? This train of thought brought me back to the As We May Think article and makes us put ourselves in the shoes of Vannevar Bush, but in our current time of the web.
The accessibility now to creating a flowing and intricate website is to everyone with a computer and internet with the help of tools like wix, wordpress, and squarespace.
I found the point fascinating of how if a company wants to market their product, they should rely on users to market it for them through web-based "word of mouth." I think this is even more true these days with influencers becoming the faces of products through their enormous followings on social media through sponsorships and brand deals. Though I wonder if this is now web 3.0 with influencers rather than a peer to peer sharing of data (aka the product reviews or simple recommendations. I remember just a couple years ago it was already a scandal to have any form of paid promotion. Mostly because it was more relied on that someone would share an honest review of say a beauty product on YouTube simply because they liked the product and it was thought that they were selling out or secretly being paid for a fake review to rave about a product. Now it is more understood with AdSense lowering their monetization for influencers that they will now need to turn to paid promotions to keep doing what they love to do.
Then getting into the Amazon conversation.. the convenience is of course wonderful and upped our standards for quick, free shipping to the point of other companies trying to copy and failing simply because Amazon was willing to lose money to gain followers. I recall hearing how they tried to buy out diapers.com when they were still ramping up and diapers refused the offer, so Amazon priced their own diapers obscenely low to the point the were literally losing money - just to put diapers.com out of business once they stole all of their customers and slowly raised their price back. This has been going on since the begining with Amazon competing with sellers. It's commonly known to Amazon sellers that Amazon is the "Gestapo" of the internet. My own mother who began her publishing company in the late 90's, was contacted by Amazon early on to become one of their sellers - she said no since she had no idea who they were. Now she is on Amazon years later and being pretty much blacklisted if their is a review below 3 stars or if she is reported for sending out product too slowly (which is out of her control due to COVID and the printing company who ships the merchandise.)
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