So I think forums are more like live chats and virtual worlds, where Wine 2.0 is more about filtering attention, content and capturing buying intentions. The site that makes it easy to complete the purchase from any device (PC, mobile phone, game console, etc.) will make a lot of money.

Great discussion; thanks for keeping the opposing view alive here, Andrew!

I like the thought of being an ‘innovator in techno-wine-ification’ – marvelous.

However for the masses, these aggregator sites will work great and expose the non-geek to a new way of getting wine information and recommendations. So I’m not so sure these Wine 2.0 sites are meant for us geeks who know what an RSS aggregator is. I also agree with Joel that we have not hit upon the right combination of features yet in any of the Wine 2.0 sites currently out there.

So I definitely think that a niche site with community editorial power has potential but what Tim and I have been bantering about is that in and of itself it may not be “it”. Supplement a concept like WLT with the right complimentary social tools and you can be on to something. I think its a matter of those of us who understand the tools (vinotechs? Tech-moliers? we should come up with a term) to experiment and find the right combination. You may not feel like it Andrew, but the fact that you (and I and others) have been doing the blog/RSS/social networking thing for 2+ years actually makes us innovators in techno-wine-ification (buddy told me that, not patting myself on the back)…we don’t have Alder’s reading audience or influence or the programming saavy of the guys doing Cork’d, but for wine tools this is cutting edge stuff. Look at Tim’s case study – he’s right!

The beauty of Internet and Web 2.0 and open source, etc… is that it makes finding the right combination and “prototyping” exceptionally cheap (basically have to pay hosting fees and find some motivated programming friends).

So I close with this – you’re counter-points are keeping everyone from drinking their own Kool-Aid so keep experimenting and keep criticizing (and keep everyone honest and focused). That is critical. But don’t write off Wine 2.0 as a vinotechnical fantasy either!

If you look at them as aggregators of news – does not an RSS reader do the same thing but enables you to limit your read list to just those sites you like? What is the point of signing up to a site and then do the self same thing that you can do in your own RSS reader? (And how many users actually know what RSS is yet?)

I look at these sites, for eg vinolin, and think – oh yes very clever, very cool looking but I cant see much that will build a lasting and big readership. Wine is too niche a topic. And thats from someone who is also a wine and technology geek

Early adopters are an important part of the technology adoption life cycle. And to “cross the chasm”, technology has to find a niche that makes its use clearly understood. I submit that a very useful Wine 2.0 site, the right site, has a greater potential to catch on with non-geeks then a general, all encompassing, horizontal site. Its up to the early users to test out the viable technologies and creatively apply them to real situations…

Its WAAAYYYY too early to close the door on this. Its going to take the “techie”est of us to sort through the hype and reality and find a useful way to apply this technology to our mutual passion – wine.