When I first heard of this phrase, I thought Web 2.0 is the newest version, like for softwares, you have version 1, 1.5, 2.0 .is this an upgrade of some sorts? Or is it an Era?
Tim O'Reilly is generally credited with inventing the term, according to him the idea of Web 2.0 emerge during the brainstorming that he had with MediaLive International in 2004. O’Reilly first defined it as “Web as a platform”. But if you search through the internet you’ll also read several different meanings of the term, examples are;
Web 2.0 = the underlying philosophy of relinquishing control
Web 2.0 = glocalization ("making global information available to local social contexts and giving people the flexibility to find, organize, share and create information in a locally meaningful fashion that is globally accessible")
Web 2.0 = an attitude not a technology
Web 2.0 = when data, interface and metadata no longer need to go hand in hand
Web 2.0 = action-at-a-distance interactions and ad hoc integration
Web 2.0 = power and control via APIs
Web 2.0 = giving up control and setting the data free
With several meanings of the term, many people are confused and to some the term is just a meaningless jargon. But is it?
Here are two determining factors of Web2.0
First one is AJAX (shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript and XHTML), that allows web application to do its works in the background without interfering with the display or behavior of the existing page. The use of AJAX has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages and better quality of Web services due to the asynchronous (unsynchronized) mode. One example of an Ajax application is the Google maps. Many softwares are now being written to take advantage of Ajax and soon it will draw a thin line between web application and desktop. Some even thinks web application can overtake pc softwares like Microsoft. Ajax is the forebearer of the definition “Web 2.0= Web as a platform”.
Second is the user’s power. Internet users have more power now than before, they have the ability to control or set preferences to their internet experience. Just few years ago, or let say before Web 2.0, a lot of websites are pretty autocratic to users, subjecting them to annoying ads, making them register and spamming them with unwanted emails. Websites nowadays are more user-friendly. For website owners, the competition now is to offer cheaper and easier solutions to users, giving user’s more choices and freedom, giving them a better interface and control over their experience, and giving their users a voice and listening to them.
Personally, I think what web 2.0 means is “the web the way it is supposed to be at this day and age”. The changes on the web right now are based from past experiences and making them better, it’s from continuous effort to produce new technology to overtake the old one, It’s to keep up with the changing lives and preferences of internet users, it’s a natural evolution.
Learn more about web 2.0 at http://www.michaelwebdesign.com
