BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click | Web 2.0 wave starts to take hold

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click | Web 2.0 wave starts to take hold: "Web 2.0 wave starts to take hold
Ian Hardy

Whether you use your computer for work or fun, the programs you use generally have one thing in common - they are stored on your PC. Increasingly though, that software is moving online.

The move to put more and more of those familiar programs on to the web has been happening for a while but its latest incarnation has won the name of Web 2.0.

What is it - the definition is imprecise at best, but it loosely describes a category of websites that are known for interactivity, collaboration and community.

Developments in underlying web technology make this all possible and mean that what the sites can do is very new. Simplicity is often the key. Often it is an online application that does one thing and does it well."


A nice little article which provides a whizz through the whole Web 2.0 deal and gives some good examples of Web 2.0 sites. I've tried Clipmarks (but don't 100% like it as much as Google Notebook) and had a look at some of the other recommended sites. This gives a small taste of the sort of thing that's out there, but I'd say that more often than not Web 2.0 sites have that feel of 'ooooh that's nice... but how am I going to use it'. You need to have a purpose for all of this stuff and looking pretty and being collaborative / community based isn't enough for real stickyness.