[The following is taken from Wikipedia...]
The term “web 2.0″ refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. WEb 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs and folksonomies.
The term was first used by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline and shortly after became notable after the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but rather to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web. According to Tim O’Reilly:
“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”
O’Reilly has said that the “2.0″ refers to the historical context of web businesses “coming back” after the 2001 collapse of the dot-com bubble, in addition to the distinguishing characteristics of the projects that survived the bust or thrived thereafter.
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has questioned whether one can use the term in any meaningful way, since many of the technological components of Web 2.0 have existed since the early days of the Web.
So are you any clearer as to what Web 2.0 is now? Yeah, most are more confused after reading that than before. But I some it up in one word – ATTITUDE.
Let me explain… When designers first started building websites, they were very limited in to what could be included on a website, how the graphics could look, how much interactivity a site could deploy, etc. But in recent times, designers have started stepping out of the box, and were no longer content with just doing what everyone else was doing. They wanted more depth in their websites, they wanted more interactivity, they simply wanted more. This comes from a typical web designers attitude to be able to deliver the very best in design and development, and to really step outside of the box to create a functional, successful, and by default – a truly fantastic work of art.
Web designers are artists, their medium is the web, they design using a different medium than most traditional artists, but they are artists just the same. They wanted more, and they figured out ways to have more. In alot of new sites you’ll now see gradient colors, images that appear to “lift” off the page, more animation/flash, more interactive elements (audio/video/blogging), basically a whole new style of design. The old websites now seem bland and stark compared to what is within the realm of today’s design abilities.
So there you have it – my understanding of Web 2.0 – it’s simply a new attitude! So should I dare ask, is your website Web 2.0?
