Hi All: As it happens, I am deep in writing a book about interaction design and Web 2.0, so I've been thinking a lot about the definition of Web 2.0. I'd be really happy to get your thoughts about it.
Like Jeff, I like elements of the O'Reilly definition a lot. However, it is too old to serve as a good definition of Web 2.0 as it exists today. The web has evolved a lot since 2005. Here is how I am now conceptualizing it: 1. Web 2.0 is an evolutionary stage in the web. The maturation of several technologies has created a qualitative change in our ability to create rich web applications with UI's that approach the quality of interactions that can be designed for a desktop computer. 2. Web 2.0 is comprised of three dimensions: - the information web - the service web - the relationship web I usually show this as a pie chart with three sectors. The value of thinking about Web 2.0 as these three dimensions is that it focuses on three sets of capabilities that define current web capabilities. The Information Web: Delivering Content --------------------------------------- In Web 1.0 this was the HTML web. Now, with cheap storage, large databases and XML we have the ability to manage large amounts of content. For example, you can now read the New York Times on-line and navigate it comfortably. As Web 3.0 matures, this dimension will take its next evolutionary step. The Service Web: Processing --------------------------- The service web is about the ability to perform sophisticated computer processing. In Web 1,0, only lightweight processing was possible without huge investments in programming. This limited most web sites to fairly simple transactions. A few services like merchant gateways were available but building a complex environment like Amazon or Ebay was a massive development effort. Improvements in databases and programming platforms (Java, .Net, for example) and the development of standards like web services has changed this. It enables businesses to develop "industrial strength" web applications that are capable of performing serious processing and managing huge databases while interacting with the user through a browser interface. This makes every web site a potential web application. The Relationship Web: Communication, Collaboration and User Created Content -------------------------------------- The relationship web is the dimension that enables communication and collaboration. Much of this is peer to peer, so users can interact with each other. Users can also create content and share it. The relationship web is made possible possible because of broadband connectivity and the greatly improvement in the power of desktop computing. This enables. for example, a user with a desktop to create and edit video, upload it to YouTube and share it with millions of people globally. What do you all think? Charlie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24104 ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
