Lots of people throw around the term â��web 2.0.â�� Most of the time, they use it to mean whatever they think it means at the time, much in the way that humanities professors will deem something to be post-modern — it helps you seem smart by obfuscating the fact that your idea is in fact pretty dull, and you ought to shut up until youâ��ve either determined what youâ��re trying to say, or (better yet) come up with something meaningful.

That being said, I think this interview with Peter Morville, author of the somewhat mindblowing Ambient Findability has some interesting things to say. I especially like the way he pushes back against the lament that a �Culture of the Amateur� is taking over all media due to the surge in user-created content:

Mainstream media has forever lost its monopoly on our attention, but professionally produced movies, music, newspapers, articles, and books will continue to play a key role within our increasingly diverse media ecology. We love the authenticity of amateurs, and it�s fun to see what everyone else finds interesting, but we also need experts and editors to tell the important stories and deliver difficult news in ways that are clear and compelling.

Damn right. Does anyone think that the utterly terrifying leave Britney alone kid is going to replace filmmakers like Todd Solondz — even if LBA kid has more viewers of his freakish YouTube clip than Solondz did of his last 5 movies?