Web 2.0

After delving into several websites I came across the phrase, “Web 2.0” and this novel term infused me with curiosity. Web 2.0, a term created by O’Reilly and MediaLive International, has been widely debated and questioned as to what the exact meaning is. Tim O’Reilly defined it as, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them." Companies and social networks in this phenomenon include Wikipedia, Youtube, Flickr, blogging, wikis, and folksonomy. He also stated,

“The core competencies of Web 2.0 companies:
-Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability
-Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them
-Trusting users as co-developers
-Harnessing collective intelligence
-Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service
-Software above the level of a single device
-Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models”

To gain a further understanding of Web 2.0, take a look at this innovative video.
For more information take a look at the O’Reilly website:
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html