Ciceron Blog Archives

Why is Web 2.0 Important?

Summary: 7 Principles of Web 2.0 Companies

1. The Web As Platform
   The Web 2.0 lesson: leverage customer-self service and algorithmic data management to reach out to the entire web, to the edges and not just the center, to the long tail and not just the head.
2. Harnessing Collective Intelligence
   The lesson: Network effects from user contributions are the key to market dominance in the Web 2.0 era.
3. Data is the Next Intel Inside
   Who owns the data? The race is on to own certain classes of core data: location, identity, calendaring of public events, product identifiers and namespaces. What’s the impact of ownership of data on Wiki, blogging, user-generated media?
4. End of the Software Release Cycle
   Continuous operations must become a core competency. Users must be treated as co-developers. Real time monitoring of user behavior to see just which new features are used, and how they are used, thus becomes another required core competency
5. Lightweight Programming Models, Development Models and Business Models
   Support lightweight programming models that allow for loosely coupled systems. Think syndication, not coordination. Design for "hackability" and remixability. (Think RSS, AJAX, Creative Commons licensing, Google API’s)
6. Software Above the Level of a Single Device
   Usefulness is not limited to the PC. Think cell phones, podcasting, TiVo, iTunes
7. Rich User Experiences
   Javascript, DHTML, AJAX, XML, XHTML/CSS (standards-based presentation)

Core Competencies of Web 2.0 Companies

Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them

• Trusting users as co-developers
• Harnessing collective intelligence
• Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service
• Software above the level of a single device
• Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models

“Google began its life as a native web application, never sold or packaged, but delivered as a service, with customers paying, directly or indirectly, for the use of that service. None of the trappings of the old software industry are present. No scheduled software releases, just continuous improvement. No licensing or sale, just usage. ... Google isn't just a collection of software tools, it's a specialized database. Without the data, the tools are useless; without the software, the data is unmanageable. .. the value of the software is proportional to the scale and dynamism of the data it helps to manage. ... Google happens in the space between browser and search engine and destination content server, as an enabler or middleman between the user and his or her online experience.“
- Tim O'Reilly, on Google as Web 2.0 company