Friday, September 26, 2008

Web 2.0

Many have heard of the new technology Web 2.0, but very few know what it actually is, and that they probably use it everyday. The latest article I read for my COM430Z class was “What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software” by Tim O’Reilly (2005). O’Reilly explains Web 2.0 as a system that allows users to interact with one another and in a way allows the people themselves to act as servers for the system. For example, EBay is a site where people can purchase and sell items online. EBay itself acts as a mediator between the two humans. The article also mentions the comparisons and contrast between Web 2.0 and its predecessor Web 1.0. Web 1.0, for example, was technologies such as personal websites and the Britannica Online (p.1). The advancements made in the world of cyberspace can be linked to the development of Web 2.0. For comparison, we can look at the Britannica Online encyclopedia. In the days of Web 1.0, that was a main source for information on the internet. Today, many people use Wikipedia, an encyclopedia that allows it’s users to include and update information on their own. Being user friendly and oriented is what sets Web 2.0 technologies apart from anything that came before it.


Web 2.0 is used by people all over the world and people may not even realize. Do you really take the time, while online, to think of the advancements made, or do you just expect things to work, perhaps even getting frustrated that they are not meeting even higher expectations? It’s incredible that in our current status of the internet, we can determine, as users, what will succeed. According to O’Reilly, participation makes or breaks a site. Users help to make it grow. We have control over the destiny of cyberspace.


O’Reilly, Tim. (2005). What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Retrieved August 21, 2008 from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html.

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