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Web 2.0: The Next Big Thing or the Evolution of a Technology?
By Frederick Townes (c) 2006
Is it a movement? A revolution? Perhaps a new paradigm? Or, is
it a bunch of hype designed to sell a bunch of new software?
Just what is Web 2.0?
Well, the term has been around since 2003. It was coined by
I-Net pioneer Dale Dougherty and introduced at a conference
by Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media, Inc., who has subsequently
made attempts at defining just what Web 2.0 means. In his
seminal document entitled What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and
Business Models for the Next Generation of Software,
(http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/
what-is-web-20.htmlO'Reilly) describes Web 2.0 as follows:
"Like many important concepts, Web 2.0 doesn't have a hard
boundary, but rather, a gravitational core. You can visualize
Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together
a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all
of those principles, at a varying distance from that core."
- Tim O'Reilly
Okay, that's a starting point of sorts - gravitational core,
set of principles and practices, veritable solar system. The
fact is, O'Reilly, the champion of Web 2.0, has written
eloquently on the subject, but after reading his detailed
explanation, you still walk away scratching your head.
Additional research clearly demonstrates that there's a lack
of consensus
Tim Bray, writing at http://radar.oreilly.com, strongly contests
the use of the term Web 2.0, calling it nothing more than a meme.
Okay, so what's a meme? Well, we have to go back to 1976 to find
the origin of the term created by Richard Dawkins in his text,
The Selfish Gene. In it, Dawkins describes memes broadly:
"Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes
fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as
genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body
to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the
meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in
the broad sense, can be called imitation."
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Web 2.0 is a catch phrase
and one that's getting a lot of attention within the e-commerce
community. In fact, since making its way into the collective
I-conscious, there have been more than 9 million Google searches
for Web 2.0 information. Somebody's interested.
Yes, there's something there, and when you cut through the hype,
delete the meme and study the underlying concepts, Web 2.0 does
offer some thinking points for every site designer, host and
owner. Let's look at some of the parameters of this new way of
thinking about the www.
Extreme Trust
A great catch phrase in its own right. Extreme trust is a new
vision for using the collective knowledge of Internet users,
demonstrated by the ascendancy of Wikipedia. In the world of
Web 1.0 (the model for the past decade), the Internet was a
source of information. However, the information was static. You
could access World Book or The Encyclopedia Britannica on-line,
but all you could do is read it, print it out and use it for
your child's homework.
Sites, such as Wikipedia and the Open Directory Project are
changing this dynamic based on the concept of extreme trust.
Wikipedia is a growing collection of information (over 100,000
unique entries) submitted and edited by volunteers. It changes
daily, hourly, providing the latest information from a variety
of writers of varying degrees of expertise. Information can be
edited by anyone who knows more about the topic than the original
poster. In fact, if you access certain topics on Wikipedia,
you'll see warnings that certain encyclopedia entries have not
been reviewed, and therefore, the content can't be deemed as
accurate - yet. However, as more experts, operating under the
doctrine of extreme trust, review each Wikipedia entry, the
reliability and veracity of the content increases.
Thus, in the Web 1.0 world, people could access information,
but not participate in its evolution. In the new age of Web 2.0,
the collective intelligence of the world community becomes
accessible and utile.
Personal Participation
Another, much-touted aspect of Web 2.0 is personal participation.
Personal web sites have been around for years. You could post
family pix and tell the world what you did over summer vacation.
But, these personal web sites never really caught on because of
the expense and time required to launch and maintain them.
Enter the web log, aka blog. These personal journals encourage
greater, individual participation by enabling anyone with an
opinion, idea or random thought to post these personal musings
for all the world to see. Bloggers have changed the way
information is disseminated. Many have garnered credibility as
legitimate news sources. In fact, bloggers have received press
credentials for newsworthy events. They're used by the mainstream
media as reference and several of these bloggers have broken
major news stories before their larger print and on-line
competitors, e.g., Robert Novak's outing of Valerie Plame as
a CIA operative.
The concept of personal participation has also spilled over
into the realm of e-commerce, with many on-line businesses
offering a blog and/or forum where customers, clients and other
interested parties can post their thoughts. Amazon.com is a
leader in this area, encouraging its customers to submit reviews
of purchased products. In fact, some Amazon reviewers have made
names for themselves - and customers seek out their
recommendations! As the old, anti-war chant once demanded,
Power to the People has been finally realized.
In fact, if you tour the Amazon site, you'll discover
opportunities for customer participation on virtually every
page. Amazon's subsidiary, Booksurge.com has also simplified the
entire publishing process. Authors no longer have to approach
traditional publishers, hat in hand, begging to be published.
Booksurge and Amazon have made it possible for anyone to write,
publish and sell texts through Amazon, B&N, Borders and other
on-line outlets. Yes, this is part of the Web 2.0 model.
Static versus Dynamic
Netscape was the browser of choice in the Web 1.0 era. It was
published, then updated regularly in various versions identified
as Netscape 1.0, 2.0, etc. This was a static business model in
which users had to wait for improvements to be made, then
download the updates.
Fast forward to the dynamic age of Web 2.0 where Google reigns
supreme. Google is a true child of the Internet. It was made to
fit with I-net dynamics. Improvements are made and implemented
daily - seamlessly. No downloads, no patches required. The
result? Google has enabled all of us to access the most obscure
factoid in a nanosecond. Its index contains billions of pages
of spidered text and as more new sites sprout like mushrooms,
more pages are spidered and the index grows.
Google has demonstrated how to do it right. It's highly
interactive, it's never static and it has created many new
avenues for the e-commerce community and for users in search
of the name of the pharaoh who was in power when the rotary mill
was introduced in Egypt. This has increased productivity
exponentially.
The Evolution of Technology
Technology evolves. It builds on what came before. It learns
from past mistakes and takes advantage of unrealized
opportunities. This is as true of America's Industrial Revolution
as it is for the Internet. There were lots of false starts,
missteps and abject failures during the rise of technology in
the early and mid-1800s. The same is true of the current
technological revolution underway on your computer screen daily.
Remember the original Priceline model? You could spend two hours
saving 9¢ on a can of peas. Nice try, but no cigar, despite
William Shatner's campy commercials. Or, how about buying pet
foods on-line? That went down in flames, too. In fact, all you
have to do is look at the I-net bubble that burst in 2000 to see
the shake-out of what was working and what wasn't. A lot of
investors lost a ton of cash, but the Net didn't shrivel up and
die. In fact, it's more powerful than ever.
Technology doesn't move forward in straight line. It never has.
There are offshoots, improvements and lots of really, really bad
ideas along the way. (Anybody remember the Ford Edsel?) Internet
technology is no different, except that the shakeouts occur much
faster, the improvements take off much quicker and the really,
really bad ideas are really, really expensive. Just ask Shatner.
Such is the nature of technological evolution.
So, Is Web 2.0 A Revolution?
Tim O'Reilly and the other promoters of Web 2.0 have done us a
service by focusing attention on new uses for the Net. RSS is a
radical step forward. Podcasting, though in its infancy, is
coming on strong having caught the attention of advertisers as
a new means to reach the cutting edge public. In fact, just as
anyone can set up and maintain a blog, today the technology
exists to set up your own broadcast network complete with
specialized shows for niche markets like pregnant parents or
home schoolers.
However, Web 2.0 also has aspects of a meme. Many on-line
businesses have picked up the term and now proudly display a
Web 2.0 logo on their home pages, though the site has virtually
no new features.
No, Web 2.0 isn't a new paradigm or a revolution. It's the
natural evolution of a technology that's growing at truly
heart-stopping speed. What was yesterday won't be tomorrow.
In the weeks and months ahead, we'll take a much closer look
at this evolutionary track to sort hype from help, and to assist
you in finding new, better ways to increase site traffic, improve
your conversion rate and expand your repeat-customer base.
For now, Google Web 2.0 and start doing your homework. Changes
are coming. Will you be ready? If not, you won't be here
tomorrow.
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