Web 2.0 - Next Generation Internet or Hype?

Everyone today is talking about Web 2.0. In the post-dotcom era several concepts were re-defined, old ideas re-emerged with new variations. Does that make it Web 2.0 or is it yet another faux-meme and marketing hype? Let’s explore…

O’Reilly roughly defines Web 2.0 with the following transformations:

We can disagree with some of these items. For example I don’t think tagging is really a replacement for taxonomy (directories). Tagging is yet another hype, soon to be replaced. Search coupled with tagging may however be a value-added replacement of directory systems.

However by and large I too agree that a transformation is indeed taking shape. Web companies are becoming more matured with time as market realities becomes clearly defined. It is moving towards the age of services. And Web is steadily and surely moving towards replacing the desktop as a service provider platform. Operating System providers like Microsoft and Linux are becoming less relevant.

O’Reily article provides an interesting meme-map of the transformation:

I disagree with the meme-map on several points. It is surely a work in progress. However some of the items stand out as uncannily accurate like the long-tail, perpetual beta etc.

Overall today software services are much more consumer-centric than ever before. You trust the user, perpetually improve the product and work closley with your customers to achieve success. Blogging has supplemented traditional customer relationship management. Common users has much greater say in shaping today’s software and services.

Most of these changes were gradual and now some of them are firmly re-defining the existing way of doing business. Does that make a Web 2.0? I think the changes define not just the internet but the entire software industry. I would rather call these changes collectively as Software Industry 2.0.

What do you think?