Web 2.0 sells!

I’ve been sort of annoyed at the hype around Web 2.0. What is so different about Web 2.0? Was there a Web 1.0? Heck, what is the definition, or scope of Web 2.0?! Did collabaoration not exist before Web 2.0 (the term was coined around 2004)? Did JavaScript not exist before Web 2.0? Did CSS and SQL queries and iframes not exist before? Of course AJAX got coined and JavaScript/CSS/SQL sounded so much like an outdated thing - but come to think of it, have any fundamentals changed? Has the value proposition changed? In fact, I don’t even know if e-commerce is still e-commerce or if its now called Web 3.0 (since Web 2.0 is for collaboration and social networking!)

But the fact of the matter is that everyone seems to be selling Web 2.0 these days. Probably I’m doing so too by mentioning Web 2.0 probably the zillionth time in this post making it more likely for search and RSS crawlers to index my post! Most large enterprises today have a Web 2.0 strategy. Seminars and conferences and unconferences and BarCamps are organized on Web 2.0. So what if they end up talking about the same old things, but the fact of the matter is that the audience is listening. Probably its the fascination with acronyms, or maybe 2.0 sounds new-age. Whatever it is, good for the Internet, oops Web 2.0 industry!