Technology adoption on the web is starting to sound like an Einstein thought experiment. Remember how he said that if you exceed the speed of light, time slows down and even goes backward? A baffling paradox, but Einstein convinced us it’s true.

Well, I have discovered a similar, albeit converse, relationship between me and Web 2.0:

If I stop trying to stay ahead of “the curve” (and even resist it), I will eventually find myself ahead of it.

Witness this Primer-like timeline:

May: I read something about Facebook for the first time.
June: I read a LOT about Facebook, because everybody’s raving about it.
July: Figure I’d better create a Facebook profile, since LinkedIn is starting to sound downright retro by comparison (see gapingvoid.com headline if there’s any question).
July: Lo and behold, I discover that my slow Facebook-trigger-finger has actually put me ahead of the curve, since Kottke tells me Facebook is cool, but its limitations mean that it is clearly the “next AOL.”

Suddenly, I can strut around confidently again. “Facebook? Who needs it?,” I say. “It’s the next AOL. Too closed, and all that. Kottke said so.”

Isn’t technology great? Well, gotta run – better put up a Facebook profile – just in case.