Get the lowdown on today's hottest tech buzzword.
September 14, 2006
URL:http://drdobbs.com/web-development/the-skinny-on-web-20/193000964
You have no doubt heard a lot of buzz about a concept called Web 2.0 bandied about by Silicon Valley marketers, bloggers, and pundits of all stripes. So what is it?
A universally agreed-upon definition hasn't yet arisen. Presented with the question, programmers will launch into long-winded explanations that include terms like Ajax and Web services. Microsoft haters will say it replaces the desktop as a platform for computing. Marketers will emphasize the "richness" of the user experience. The digerati -- technology-oriented yuppies who work in San Francisco and New York brick lofts and are as addicted to buzzwords as they are to Peet's coffee -- will go on about "wikis" and "mashups" and "memes" and the "granular addressability of content."
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Introduction WWW: Past, Present, And Future Browser Wars: The Saga Continues The Skinny On Web 2.0 WWW Pop-Up Timeline Browser Image Gallery |
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To illustrate this concept: Yahoo News features both old-school Web mechanisms and Web 2.0 components. Comparing the two shows the stark difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 approaches to creating value.
Yahoo's Top Stories page lists articles according to what editors think should be on the page -- and in what order. The value of the page is provided by the judgment of professionals. But Yahoo's Most Emailed News page places and ranks stories based on the actions of users: Those stories that are e-mailed the most rise to the top. It's a Web 2.0 concept. The value of the page is derived from the actions of users.
Flickr: We know Web 2.0 when we see it. |
Here are some perfect examples of Web 2.0 sites:
Map your friends with Frappr. |
So there you have it. A workable (if oversimplified) definition of Web 2.0. Ultimately, however, labels are of little value. The bottom line is that radical innovation is alive and well on the Internet. It's a great time to be surfing the Web.
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