Why there's no such thing as Web 2.0

blog.pmarca.com

11 points·abstractbill··4 comments

I can't get rid of a feeling that Web 2.0 is a little bit about cheating rather than innovating. Seriously, everything interesting and truly remarkable was built in "Web 1.0" days: online search, online directions, blogs (yes, they are a lot older than most think :-), you name it - everything was built or invented back in late 90s.

With Web 2.0 people talk alot about: - Using code that you did not write (god bless open source) - ... and never spend a dime on (or contributing to) it - Never worry about actual content/service - ... and never pay a dime for content (let customers do it for you!)

so... basically Web 2.0 is largely about not creating anything, but rather finding ways of capitalizing on what others have done.

Do I sound to pessimistic? :-) Did I forget about AJAX? :-) But AJAX is just one function call and it's been innovated by Microsoft wa-a-a-ay back in Web 1.0 days.

So you don't see any difference, for example, between the maps 1.0 (mapquest) and Google maps? They are both "maps", but other than that there is a world of difference. The same thing goes for any other product that has gotten substantially more useful.

His blog is off to a great start. Lots of great insights in just the first week. I hope he can keep it up.

I'm curious: who are the people that still think "Web 2.0" is an interesting or useful term?

It seems that the debates over what it means, where it's valuable (if at all), and who should care, were had and done last year.

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