Jerry Lawson and David Maizenberg are exploring the notion of Web Site Design As Necktie. Jerry draws a parallel between the necktie divide—those who pay for $5,000 Hermes, and those who would sooner hang themselves given the array of acceptable, better priced alternatives—and Web pages, concluding "[t]hat's where blogs are going to take web site design." David says not so fast: uniqueness, instant recognizability, and "branding" are becoming more, not less, important.

Me? I think they're both right. In Jerry's post I see reflected the fact the Web is still in its infancy, and part of the progression to the next level is the easy, out-of-the-box, idiot-proof ability to have complex online interactions and presence. It also reflects the growing RSS- and RDF-ification of text and other online media, the death of push (and rise of pull), and the semantic Web. In David's post, I see perhaps further into the future. Not to get too sci-fi on you, but in Neal Stephenson's Metaverse, off-the-shelf avatars ("Brandys" and "Clints") make participation (and deception) possible, while those concerned with their identity and credibility opt for something more unique, personal, and sophisticated. In other words, I think we're at the very beginning of all this. We'll start to see a continuum, and before we're done we'll see it all.