What is Web 2.0?

So, what is happening to the Web, the www – world wide web? Now people started versioning it. The Web 1.0 comprised of static HTML pages, the Web 1.5 comprising of dynamic, content managed websites and now the Web 2.0. The second annual Web 2.0 Conference is now taking place (October 5-7) in San Francisco.

What is Web 2.0?

According to Richard MacManus, Web 2.0 is The Web as Platform. For corporate people, the Web is a platform for business. For marketers, the Web is a platform for communications. For journalists, the Web is a platform for new media. For geeks, the Web is a platform for software development. And so on.

As per the current Wikipedia definition, “Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications, like Gmail, to end users. The proponents of this thinking expect that ultimately Web 2.0 services will replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.”

Om Malik defines Web 2.0 as a collection of technologies – be it VoIP, Digital Media, XML, RSS, Google Maps, Wiki, AJAX, etc. that leverage the power of always on, high speed connections and treat broadband as a platform, and not just a pipe to connect.

In this article published on 30-Sep, Tim O’Reilly (President and CEO of O’Reilly Media) writes about the origin of the term Web 2.0, his definition of Web 2.0, etc..
He defines the core competencies of Web 2.0 companies as

  • Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability
  • Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them
  • Trusting users as co-developers
  • Harnessing collective intelligence
  • Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service
  • Software above the level of a single device
  • Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models

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