When will the IT industry get over its "2.0" fetish?

The other day, some friends were discussing Web 2.0 and social media with me! Well, it left me with this thought -- what is exactly this 2.0 anyway? A new version? Or, a new generation, perhaps? Or maybe, a better way of doing things?

Wonder when we'd get to hear of things such as virtualization 2.0, storage 2.0, security 2.0, open source 2.0, green IT 2.0, DRM 2.0, and so on and so forth! Oh, by the way, there was an SMS 2.0 doing the rounds in the telecom industry! There's something called community and marketing 2.0 as well!

Well, as though Web 2.0 wasn't enough, we are getting to hear a lot about Enterprise 2.0! There we go again!! The moment enterprises start making use of social media platforms -- it is probably up for an 'Enterprise 2.0' title! Or well, those who are in the process of updating or adding new equipment to their network infrastructure can easily go with 'Infrastructure 2.0.'

Never mind! I've not really understood this '2.0' thing anyway, and am truly amazed at the fetish of the technology/IT industry with its fascination for this term!

Great! The word '2.0' really makes for great reading and brilliant copy! However, I am really grateful that there's never been any talk of telecom 2.0 and semiconductors 2.0, at least, not so far!

Ever wondered how GSM would appear, if GSM 900MHz was referred to as GSM 1.0 and GSM 1800MHz as GSM 2.0? Or, for that matter, Intel's brilliant chips as Intel 1.0 or Intel 2.0?

The IT industry has taken pride in coining new buzzwords. Perhaps, it has overdone that a bit! Let's not get carried away by this 2.0 and 3.0 waves. Every new version of any technology or application is next generation anyway.

Instead of selling the version -- in its various avataars such as 2.0, or next-gen -- the IT industry could try selling ONLY the benefits -- of that particular technology -- for the masses at large. Anything 2.0 does have a habit of fast disappearing from sight as well!

A friend once told me jokingly about 'Friend 2.0' -- 'Social media is meant for all of those anti social folks, who don't know what it means to chat and hang out with friends, or don't even bother to either call or email their friends, who, they either haven't met for long, or can't meet anyway, because of the location or other reasons, but are quite happy to stay connected on a social network for ages, without bothering to connect with them realistically!"

Hmmm, perhaps, he's right! I fall in that anti-social category -- who's all enamored with 'everything Web 2.0', so much that even I forget to either call or email friends I haven't met for ages. Maybe, this needs a correction on my part!

Otherwise, I surely belong to the Friend 2.0 category! Do you?