Webcloud World

Like so many tech articles posted since Tim O’Reilly coined the term in 2004, this one references “Web 2.0″ as if it were something tangible–or at least a concept with clear, concise definition. It is not. In 2006, Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee sagely observed that “nobody knows what it means”:

http://tinyurl.com/y6ewzy

In 2007, Michael Wesch put together this video that supposedly “explains what Web 2.0 really is about”:

http://tinyurl.com/6pdz2q

It is a cool video. But the message is all about XML and how it can be used to separate form and content. There was no mention of CSS and XHTML, but no matter. I was writing XML parsers in the ’90s, and XHTML/CSS web design pre-dates “Web 2.0″ as well.

And now in 2008, the most honest thing we can say is that “Web 2.0″ means whatever the techno-marketeer (ab)using it wants it to mean. Otherwise, why would intelligent people like Isaac O’Bannon still be writing articles asking “What is Web 2.0?”:

http://tinyurl.com/5solok

And, why would McKinsey’s just-released best-of-breed report entitled “Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise” …

http://tinyurl.com/6sxls7

… include no attempt at defining the term other than to list the “Web 2.0 Tools” that comprise or enable it? And even there, the chief ingredient is identified only as “Web Services”, adding more mystery to the mix as one ethereal term is offered up to explain another.

As originated in an Onstartups.com website design posting…

http://tinyurl.com/576sgs

… “Web 2.0″ is like pornography: Nobody has defined it, but you know it when you see it.

Bruce Arnold, Web Designer, Miami Florida
http://www.PervasivePersuasion.com