What is Web 2.0, Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software

Abstract: Defining just what Web 2.0 means (the term was first coined at a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International, which also spawned the Web 2.0 Conference), still engenders much disagreement. Some decry it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, while others have accepted it as the new conventional wisdom. Tim O'Reilly attempts to clarify just what we meant by Web 2.0, digging into what it means to view the Web as a platform.

Author: Tim O'Reilly
Date: September 30, 2005

Takeway: The arguments will rage on when Web 2.0 was born and what it really is, but this is a good primer in understanding the key elements especially conveying the message that Web 2.0 is really a computing platform. The reality is that Web 2.0 is a marketing term coined a few years ago by O'Reilly Media. Some would even argue that the web is way beyond 2.0 stage, more like Web 8.0. Others would argue that Tim Berners-Lee's orginal vision of the web where he envisioned the highly participative Web that we are moving towards not the static Web where we have been. That means that the early web was a beta, and we are not only approaching Web 1.0. Confused, don't be. O'Reiily's document does a pretty comprehensive job of explaining what Web 2.0 is about, no matter what you label it.

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