Wibble-Wobble 2.0

Posted by admin at April 25, 2006

I’m somewhat dissatisfied with two phrases I’m using a lot.

The first is “Web 2.0.� The reason I’m dissatisified with this one is that it’s become the “victim of a drive-by lyrical whippin’� (to quote Mix-a-lot) by the so-called “A-list� bloggers, who seem to be running out of things to talk about. I think I’ll probably just keep using it because the alternatives (“live web� — yech) are too contrived. But is there a different way to think, or talk, about the sector as a whole?

(An old professor of mine spent several years researching “post-modernism.” His conclusion? “It’s modernism.” Is Web 2.0 really just the Internet?)

The second is “web application companies.” It’s terrifically awkward. Does anyone have an alternative suggestion? What do all these companies (or a bunch of them anyway) have in common? Are they web app… outfits? crews? posses?

Comments

Leave a response

  1. Gravatar
    Jason Kolb – April 25, 2006 @ 07:15 AM
    They're software companies just like Microsoft, they just use a different model. Hosted software companies, to differentiate?
  2. Gravatar
    Shanti Braford – April 27, 2006 @ 10:37 AM
    Much has been written about this topic, so I won't digress... =) One big reason it'd be wise to not attempt to be a Web 2.0 Poster Child is that this Bubble 2.0 will inevitably end. Like the first one, there will be a swath of companies that survive. (like Google, Yahoo, and eBay in the previous era) When the 2.0 bubble bursts, companies with sound financials and keen business savvy will still be around. All the 'me too' companies (if that's what you want to call them), will need to somehow pay the bills to keep the lights on! (that is, if they are not one of the 5-15 companies acquired by the likes of Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, etc)
  3. Gravatar
    Curt – April 27, 2006 @ 04:17 PM
    I hear you. But there are a host of commonalities in these companies (at least some of them, including us) that are being called "Web 2.0." The more important core common elements include: * Living online * Emphasis on sharing (info, files, etc.), * Consumer production of some content (or ability to create personal content, shareable, using the application) * Transparency (whether that's open source, or some part being open, or just leaving a 'window' open, so to speak, on the process of creating the product and/or company) * Creating, encouraging and utlizing two-way conversations Perhaps more of the business approach is new than the tech part? (Though with things like Ajax, I'm not sure that's so.) Either way, as a descriptor (not a proscriptor) there's definitely something there. I'll allow it's overdone. But every stage of technology development has its "millenialists."
Comment





Inbound link count provided by Technorati