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The exact definition of Web 2.0 is still a matter of debate. The term was coined by Tim OReilly in 2003, and popularized by the Web 2.0 Conference the following year. It is still being examined and reexamined almost everyday by bloggers around the world, who, in their own ways, are adding examples, questioning previous interpretations, and pointing to newer developments that they think are its manifestations, to collectively shape the "understanding"and not really the "definition"of web 2.0. That kind of collective value-addition and active participation by many people around the world using the Internet as a medium, incidentally, is what distinguishes Web 2.0 from the Web of yesteryears.

But the big debate is not around what should or should not be included while defining Web 2.0; it is about the name itself. Web 2.0 denotes a new version of the Web. But a version, in case of a product, is a discreetly new release, which is launched on a particular date. The Webas we see it todayis the result of continuous improvements, and hence, is an evolution. It is not as if it was switched on one day, say those who oppose the name. The most notable voice in this camp is Tim Berners-Lee, one of the founding fathers of the World Wide Web. He argues that the Web was always supposed to be what "the so-called" Web 2.0 is.

Whats the Big Deal
While some of the characteristics are still being debated and the jury is still out on them, there is consensus about a few. They are:

• Power to the user/collaborative nature of the Web: This to the basic difference between Web 2.0 and the traditional Web.

• Collective responsibility: While power to the user in blogs, Orkut and YouTube is more of an enhancement of the capability of the Web; Wikipedia and open source collaborative software projects have proved that the new Web is not just a platform for people to provide an active feedback to those in authority not to overstep their limits, you can do wonders by giving people the authority to take the responsibility and you can succeed. Wikipedia is almost as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica and is far, far more diverse.

• The Web as a platform: Today, it is possible to use applications entirely from the browser without "owning it". Whether it is small Google Docs apps or a Salesforce.com CRM, people are used to access applications over the Internet.

• User-friendly interface: Earlier, the Web had been designed to do some things and you had to learn how to use it. Today, it is designed for you and it is for the designers to figure out how to make that more usable, not to speak of more appealing, to you.

In the Pipeline
Offline Applications: While in the first generation of the Web people tried to make what was built for traditional systems to run on the Web (and many burnt their fingers: remember the ASP wave?), many are now developing applications purely for the Web. Some realize that it is not enough to make them only for the Web; they need to run offline as well. Expect to see a lot of effort in this area. Some of the projects in this area are Adobes effort to do that with its Adobe Apollo and a competing project called Dekoh.

Web 3.0: While the initial Web was about making the concept work, the Web 2.0 is about more collaboration and active participation of the user. The next frontier of research is what some call the Semantic Web: a smarter Web that understands the context and meaning of what you are setting out to do.

Shyamanuja Das
shyamanujad@cybermedia.co.in

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