Web 2.0 as Paris Hilton would say is hot. But is it really new, or is it a repackaged, better marketed version of the web. While technology has certainly improved the web functionality and more importantly access speed, most of what is considered new really isn’t. Online video probably is the biggest improved web feature. With so many users now having broadband and an vast improvement in video compression, quality video is rampant. But what about all those “social networks”. Here is a list of the old and new, and you tell me if it really isn’t mostly hype.
- Geocities Homepages = MySpace – Both promote users creating their own slice of the internet with their interests and annoying background music.
- Classmates = Facebook – Classmates is still around, and if it hadn’t been for them pushing for monthly fees, they may have beaten Facebook to the punch.
- Forums = Blogs – seemingly a reach but not really. Blogs basically allow someone to have a forum in which no one else is able to start a topic, they are only able to comment on them. So I have an opinion or an answer and I post it to my blog. You can read it, and comment; however, if I don’t like your comment I nuke it! Forums basically did this 10 years ago, but of course someone could just hop on and trash your stupid, silly opinions and only if you were a narc err moderator could you delete it!
- Ofoto = Flickr – If I had a good memory I could probably remember 10 other sites which allowed you to upload and share your photos.
- DHTML = Ajax – The xmlHTTPRequest object in javascript did for DHTML what steroids did for Sammy Sosa. Suddenly it became relevant.
Am I anti Web/Library 2.0? Not really. I just hate the 2.0 part of it, as if it is actually just like Coke Zero. Look at the ingredients and compare Diet Coke and Coke Zero. They are essentially the same. Coke changed the formula slightly, repackaged it and gave it a ssssssssssslick name.
What the web is experiencing is the same thing car companies routinely do. They introduce a new car model. The marketing gurus sell the hell out of it. The engineers go back to the drawing board and start working on improvements. Three years later they have a new version of the old car, having changed is styling a bit, given it some fancy new options, added a new advertisement campaign and presto you can own the all new 2007 Yugo.
So when you are considering jumping into the Web 2.0 fray, and adding your library to Facebook, MySpace etc, just remember that it is a fad, and while it may last for a couple of years, there will be something else. Better practice is probably to invest heavily in R&D. Build something new for today, which fits all the latest trends, and immediately go right back to the lab and start looking at the future trends.
