Who's using whom?

Recently, that "Web 2.0... Machine is Us/ing Us" video has popped up all over my blogroll recently. It even made it's way here. Well Tom Hoffman wasn't too impressed with it and astutely observed that "This is a video, it isn't XML, and you can't separate its form from its content, and it should be quite clear that its popularity is due to its form rather than its content. If you re-worked this as a textual post, its incoherence would be obvious, and it would be ignored." Well, here's the transcript, courtesy of Tanya Witherspoon at the National Writing Project. See for yourself.

I tend to agree that seeing the so-called script of the video is close to incoherent. And I'll admit, that I still don't think I truly understand what exactly the video is showing me. However, I'm not willing to go as far as Tom and pooh-pooh it. The fact that it's form - as a video presentation - is responsible for its greatest impact doesn't make it less valid. Instead, the video allows us to understand a complex subject in a simpler way. Tom knows a little more about the subject than I do, but we can't lose sight of the fact that if we want educators on board with Web 2.0 tools, then we need to find ways to spread the word.