We moved away from distributed applications hosted on a mainframe and accessed by remote dumb terminals years ago. Then we flirted with the client/server model and application service providers who offered applications over the internet. Eventually, most of us settled for unwieldy applications hosted on our laptops – without them, we can’t perform the simplest of tasks unless hooked up to the network.
Using a notebook PC or Mac has had many advantages. But what happens when you want to work with other users or access your desktop tools from another location? And what happens if your notebook PC gets stolen?
Web 2.0 promises to change all of this: you store your valuable information on the network by default so it is secured, backed up and available to you wherever you are. It provides a similar level of functionality and familiar user interface to that available on the desktop, but without the need for Windows or Mac OS - all you need is a standard web browser and an internet connection.
DEFINING TECHNOLOGY
Coined in 2004, Web 2.0 denotes advanced internet technology and applications; the next step in the development of the Web towards a more transactional, personalised and interactive environment delivered through a rich user interface.
There are almost as many Web 2.0 sites as there are opinions on what Web 2.0 really is, whether it’s worthy of the title and whether it’s even worth defining. As a collection of technologies and applications, Web 2.0 is a convenient group name; however, just as New Media is no longer ‘new’, should tools like blogs (which have been around for years) be included in the definition?
Various technologies are being tipped as key for Web 2.0, although the majority of these technologies are built upon existing standards such as XML, Web Services and JavaScript. Blogs, AJAX, RSS, the Opensource integrated development environment, Eclipse, and Wikis undoubtedly make the Web a more democratic space, and this is a true revolution in the medium. The ability to access applications remotely over the Web is merely an evolution of the medium. Notwithstanding, it’s an important one.
UNDERSTANDING APPLICATIONS
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is a web development technique for creating rich, interactive web applications. The key theme with AJAX is to shift a great deal of interaction to the client’s browser, exchanging data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This increases the page's interactivity, speed, and usability.
And it does not stop with the creation of richer application interfaces; Web 2.0 also encompasses technologies derived from XML for the creation of a Semantic Web.
Currently under the direction of the Web's creator, Tim Berners-Lee, the Semantic Web extends the Web through the use of standards, mark-up languages and related processing tools enabling the creation of tools and technologies that have a better understanding of the growing mass of information on the Net. Semantically-enabled agents integrated into the Web 2.0 application space will soon start to deliver knowledge-on-demand rather than the information overload Google-blindness we have to wade through today.
REDEFINING COLLABORATION
Web 2.0 allows web developers to create true applications rather than functional Websites. www2.writely.com, for example: rather than writing your word documents on your desktop you can write them with the same level of functionality wherever you may be – and collaborate with other users - without the need to install Microsoft Office and pay all those licence fees. Interestingly, writely was purchased by Google in March of this year.
This is what users really need. Creating documents, saving them somewhere, maybe printing something, and most of all, the majority of us then need to share that information with someone else.
Building all the functionality you need into shared servers that you access through a secure connection to the Internet enables you to work anywhere and be productive. This is Web 2.0 in action.
INTERNET REUNITED
The richness of functionality such as AJAX, web services, XML, and the latest incarnations of Macromedia Flash, for example, are starting to create true web applications that are being labelled as Web 2.0. Add RSS feeds and the Semantic Web to the mix and suddenly you have the ability to create intelligent agents that can search and retrieve information based on the user’s actions and needs.
In fact, the Internet becomes the true democratic medium it has long been touted as: users stipulate what, how and when they receive information, users contribute to and share information, users define their space and how it is used. Sites such as flickr, del.icio.us and pageflakes do precisely this and myspace is one of the most used sites on the Web.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
For advertisers this is an interesting time. As an increasing number of consumers see the potential of Web 2.0 and its flexibility, mobility and level of functionality, more and more information, and therefore user intelligence, will be placed online. This means each of these services will be able to track the actions of a consumer in their working life, not just what web pages they search for. GMail is doing this now, looking at your emails and not only categorising them for you but also identifying the concepts, the trends, the type of interests you have. Extend this to the documents you write, the projects you work on, the type of sector you work in, who your customers are... and the possibilities are great.
Clearly there will have to be rules laid down regarding privacy, confidentiality and the like, but at a certain level there should be no problem with the identification of relevant trends for the direct supply of information to the user in question. Knowing more about my needs through the profiling of my working life, an advertiser can send me something I will actually want to look at rather than junk mail or generic adverts. This enables a level of accuracy when targeting online users that has until now been unavailable.
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
The emergence of Web 2.0 subscription-based services and applications will also usher in a new attitude amongst users to the purchase of software. In essence you won't need to buy a box with CDs and manuals, or a vast suite of functionality such as Microsoft Office anymore, particularly if you only need to write documents and perform simple tasks when editing them.
Instead of this you will be able to subscribe to certain functionality at a certain time; a sort of pay-as-you-go application suite. You will not have to have all of your applications installed locally just in case you want to use an obscure function sometime in the future, rather you will be able to simply subscribe to a function when and if you need it and use it instantly through the browser interface.
So, depending on your point of view, Web 2.0 is coming, has been here for years or is simply a storm in a teacup. Whichever you subscribe to, there’s no doubting that the Internet is moving towards the democratic, collaborative space it always promised to be, and that users are now in control. We decide what we want, when we want it and how we want it. And in truth, the Internet is the only place you’ll visit where that’s possible – roll on Web 3.0!
Adam Cooper
Chief Technical Architect
AMAZE
www.amaze.com
a.cooper@amaze.com
INFORMATION
To find out how we can help your business, email sales@amaze.com or call Jenny Chapman on +44 (0)870 240 1700.
