We have often heard the term Web 2.0 but most of us haven't thought about what it actually means. So is there a new version of Web out there that we are unaware of?? Well the answer is Yes and No. No, because we all actually are a part of Web 2.0 and use it everyday. Yes, because we never realized when this transition took place.
So what is actually Web 2.0? Well there is no hard and fast definition but
Web 2.0 points out to the new era of web which is much different from delivering just HTML content to the user. If Web 1.0 was about information and commerce, Web 2.0 is about creation and collaboration. The phrase Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O'Reilly in reference to web based communities and hosted services, which enabled collaboration and and sharing amongst users.
Soon gone will be the days
when people used desktop software that came in versions. The software
has become an service now. The versions are no more there, only
improvement goes on. Do you know which version of Google Docs or
Gmail do you use? The whole software cycle of design-develop-test-ship-install will
be finished. Software will now rely on the Beta development model,
where it is continually refined and improved and the users will become
beta developers. Network will be the platform to deliver software. This is Web 2.0.
Web has transformed from a medium of information delivery to a medium of creation and collaboration. We not only read content but we create it too. We, the users, form the core of Read/Write Web. Search for a term on a Google and the chances are the a result from Wikipedia will land up in the first 5 results. Most of the content on youtube is user generated. People create/share slideshows on www.slideshare.net, write 100s of reviews on www.amazon.com and create semantic annotations of Web pages by tagging them on Del.icio.us. We all write blogs and love to read them. This is Web 2.0.
Have you ever thought why most of us shifted from Yahoo mail to Gmail? The biggest reason was a better interface which was done through Asynchronous JavaScript(AJAX). Remember those commercials(Makkadman, Dadu ki Amanat) form WebChutney.com which got us laughing straight away, those were done in Flash. Suppose you have a favourite blog/site, then do you go there often looking for a new entry/information? No. You subscribe to that site using a Reader(Google Reader, Bloglines) and get informed whenever a post is published. This is done through RSS feeds. Techniques like AJAX, Flash enable a web page to get dynamic content without the need to refresh itself and have led to a better user experience in browser based applications. This is Web 2.0.
Orkut and Facebook are our favourite hangout places. We love to write scraps. Almost everyone we know is just a IM away. Those of us who use Linux, know how handy the discussions forum are when something breaks down. All the open source development occurs around the IRC channels. The examples above point to the sole fact - We are Networked. Our collective knowledge on Wikipedia consists of millions of pages and proves to be one of the most useful sources of information. The items I but on Amazon may affect the items recommended to you or even the movies I rate on imdb.com may in some way affect the next movie that you are going to watch. This is Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is a new way of thinking,
it points out to the web that is getting smarter and richer as more and
more people start to use it. The trend for the Web nowadays is social interaction, user-generated content, rich internet applications and recommendations which when taken together
form the next generation, user driven, intelligent web.
I would like to end with line by Ross Mayfield, Web 1.0 was commerce , Web 2.0 is people.
References -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
http://innovatei.blogspot.com/2006/11/web-20-for-layman.html
http://blogs.sun.com/share/entry/where_is_web_2.0%3F
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/10/69114
http://www.oreilly.com/radar/web2report
http://radar.oreilly.com/