“We’ve left the digital decade behind, and now we’re moving into the era of the connected community.”

So what does that mean? Well, often I have to look back at where I’ve been, in order to figure out where I’m going. In a previous post I wrote about the past ten years, the World Wide Web from Y2K to Today.

In 2005 I started blogging and discovered that I love to write. The blogging format gave me a world wide voice which allowed me to connect with others I never otherwise would have met. I started working with my brother David and we naturally wrote about our common interest, music. We used Google’s Blogger and eventually migrated into WordPress, and even looked into other platforms like Joomla!

In the ensuing five years we have evolved into working with other tools like Twitter and Facebook, FriendFeed, bit.ly and HootSuite. We have become more connected to a community of like-minded net citizens, engaging in many different conversations across the world wide web.

The term Web 2.0 first took off in 2004, during the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference. Six years later, Web 2.0 has exploded, expanded and morphed into a host of different web applications connecting us all with each other.

What does it mean to you?

Apple has announced their new iPad, and I’m just now getting an iPhone. But isn’t that the way it is? How many of us can afford to buy every new device that hits the market? Just wait until the latest device comes out, then the prices drop on the older models and suddenly it’s affordable.

I got a 3G iPhone, which seems to be all I need at the moment. The capacity of this phone is almost overwhelming with all the thousands of apps available, plus the many ways the phone can be used.

I’m just getting into the apps, but so far I like the Hootsuite Twitter app, and the free Facebook app.

What impresses me the most is the multi-tasking capability of the iPhone; simply amazing the way you can make a phone call and surf the web at the same time; or do any number of other tasks.

I thought the iPod was great, but the iPhone is the most elegant and addictive electronic device I’ve ever used.