Here’s a visual way to look at Web 2.0, courtesy of Tim O’Reilly (via Richard McManus).
On that note, Dave Winer dislikes the “web 2.0″ term (he thinks conference promoters and venture investors are trying to create a new bubble). I agree that groundless hype can be dangerous–and buzzwords are annoying. However, I’m seeing steady (though sometimes slow) progress from speculative talk about “web 2.0″ technology for its own sake to more concrete plans for increasingly viable startup ideas enabled by new technologies.
However, it’s worth noting that O’Reilly is, among other things, a conference promoter (the map came out of FOO Camp), and I’m a venture capitalist–so take all this with an appropriate grain of salt.
Update (10/2/05): O’Reilly followed up on the meme map with a more complete article on “What Is Web 2.0.” Link is here. Worth a read (thanks, Brian).
Left by TechCrunch on September 26th, 2005