Opinion: Web 2.0 sites aren't published so much as streamed, constantly improving and growing through the participation of their users.While the exact definition of what puts a new site into the "Web 2.0" category is still a bit fuzzy (all of Tim O'Reilly's
attempts to define it aside), it's a bit like the famous definition of pornography: You know it when you see it.
What makes a site worthy of the "Web 2.0" definition? First it has to treat the Web as a platform, not just a place to plop information or run database queries.
Next, it has to take into account the fact that the Web is a networked platform and that the best results come from recognizing these connections and facilitating them through social features such as tagging and collaboration.
Web 2.0 sites aren't as much published as they are streamed, constantly improving and growing through participation by, and an inherent respect of, their users.
For the most part, creators of Web 2.0 applications appreciate design, understand both the economic and ergonomic benefits of user experience, and strive to be useful in a real-world way. "Web 2.0-ness" might be tough to define, but when you're experiencing it, you know.
There's been a huge explosion of innovation and creativity during the past few years, an explosion that rivals what happened during the boom years of the late '90s. Sites like Flickr, MySpace, Writely, Odeo and Del.icio.us are commonly cited examples, but there are literally hundreds of sites that fit the definition.
Probably one of the most compelling promises of the Web 2.0 crowd is that at some point in the future we'll all be able to ditch the overhead and problems of our increasingly buggy operating systems and do everything online.
Even Microsoft is moving that way, generating some serious buzz by revealing that it is "very immersed in the browser as a platform." Thin-client, browser-based, work-anywhere, share-anywhere applications seem to be the wave of the future. So what's the problem?
Click here for our Web 2.0 Tutorials Tool Box.
The problem is that all of us are a long way from being able to rely on the Web for real-world services. It may be fun to play with a lot of this stuff, but until a few problems are addressed, Web 2.0 will remain more of a gee-whiz, early adopter, techno-demo phenomenon than something that transforms the way we work, play, collaborate and live online. These problems include:
- Authentication: This one's a biggie. I don't want to have to log in to each and every app on my desktop, and I sure as heck don't want to have to remember a laundry list of user names and passwords in order to use online apps to get my work done.
- User-load: I've got enough work to do without having to "tag" everything I do. Sure, tagging has been a huge help when it comes to using real human words to categorize and find stuff, but it can also be a major pain when it comes to getting work done. Don't make me work harder than I already have to.
- Search intelligence: Efforts by Google and its ilk aside, we're still a long way from being able to search in a way that makes sense to humans. Quintura is one very interesting experiment into making search work the way that humans actually look for information, but there's a lot of ground left to cover. Better searches allow more productivity.
- Information overload: With all the user-submitted content, connections, tags and so on, there's a LOT of information out there. Unfortunately, the thing that makes most of the Web 2.0 apps so attractive—the ability to collaborate and share content—also makes them unwieldy. Providing better ways to get through the chaff to the proverbial wheat is vital if people are going to be able to use these apps over the long term.
- Single-mindedness: Yes, I know ... nobody can do everything. But at the same time, who wants to have to keep dozens of bookmarks around in order to get work done? Some of the more interesting Web 2.0 apps have multiple levels of functionality (ThinkFree Office is a good example) but getting everything into one place is vital. Consolidation in the industry will take care of some of this (see Google's acquisition of Writely), but we're still a long way off.
- Desktop integration: Let's face it—there are plenty of times when you can't get online. And until ubiquitous wireless access becomes, well, ubiquitous, we're all going to have to exist in a wired and unwired world. Providing better integration and synchronization between online and desktop environments would ensure that people will be able to get work done regardless of what's going on with the connection.
We're in the midst of one of the biggest revolutions to happen to computing since the introduction of the PC a few decades ago. The move from single-user, non-networked, individual applications to a globally networked, collaborative, always-on environment will have profound changes on the way we all live, work, and play.
But let's not let the hype outdo the reality. The time is now to start looking at all the cool stuff that's been developed, look beyond the wow factor, and start to examine how real users' lives can be improved in real ways. I love what I see ... now let's just get it to work!
