- Howie Town
- Posts
- The End Of Web 2.0 ...Investing Against The Terminally Online Trend
The End Of Web 2.0 ...Investing Against The Terminally Online Trend
Howard Lindzon
January 04, 2023
Good morning...
Back in 2005-2008 I was terminally on my blackberry. It was a keyboard and a small screen not even connected to the internet. I thought they would have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Steve Jobs and Apple instead just built the iPhone
Today, in 2022, most people are terminally connected to their iPhone, iPad, laptop, desktop or streaming service, because of the internet and social media and the dopamine it provides.
Jack Raines, a young financial writer had this great riff...
Social media is the pornography of human interaction. A cheap substitute for an authentic experience that injects you with just enough dopamine to keep you crawling back. And it works so well because it feels so real. As "social" suggests, when you see your friends' pictures and text back and forth with your family, it certainly feels like you are socializing.
And it's so damn convenient, the ability to engage with the world from the comfort of your couch, that we just can't stop. And day by day, year by year, our authentic, face-to-face interactions have been replaced by the convenience of the supercomputers in our pockets.
Relationships built on these digital channels may sound and feel real, but, as Sarah learned with Ash's duplicate (Black Mirror Episode), they're missing that *something* that makes them authentic.And so, despite our ever-increasing connectivity, we are more alone than ever.
My suggestion: stop replacing real life with social media, and start using social media to facilitate real life. The metaverse might sound cool, but I promise you'll have a better time kicking it with your real friends.
I am an expert in hindsight, so in my expert option 2022 brought us to the end of web 2.0.
We were promised crypto, web 3 and now AI, but really what we have is LVMH (see my post here), ALO, Top Golf, Coal Stocks, Saudi oil princes and some new overlords (Apple, Musk, TikTok) managing the web 2 pipes.
In 2021 I mostly stopped seed investing because everything looked the same and the prices were silly.
In 2022 I spent the most time offline and off my computers than I can remember, cycling, hiking and seeing the world.
The economy is the economy and I can't change that, but the next era will be very good for the creatives and best marketers of course, but also those that break free of being terminally online and those that build products, experiences and companies that cater to offline first with online and tech infused in the background as the garnish.
Hit me up with your best ideas anytime.
Join the conversation