The Path from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
The Web Is about To Change and 2.0 Is the Web Platform of the Future
When the Internet was created many years ago, there was little or no consumer interaction with business. Today, things have changed and the web is changing as well.
Web 2.0 is a phrase that is becoming more and more popular all the time. While many people of the world are still getting used to Web 1.0, this new and evolved version is taking the www by storm. But, what is Web 2.0 and how are the changes going to affect users and consumers?
To better understand Web 2.0 you must first look at the characteristics that make this version of the www so unique. Web 2.0 is a virtual platform where users relinquish many of the controls they are used to. You have to think of this platform as more of a feeling or mind relationship with information than a real thing. With Web 2.0 we will all be given the chance to set free the data we have been penning up for so long.
One of the most influential socialization projects to date, Web 2.0 brings local and global together in a relationship of information. People will have more interaction with less control.
Taking a Technical Look
If you look at Web 2.0 from a technical side, you will see terms like AJAX and API's, user-interfaces and rich formatted context. These terms are just that -- terms. People are what make Web 2.0 what it is and people will make it what it will become.
Sure Web 2.0 offers a wealth of fantastically interactive tools and functions. No one is saying that tag clouds, cascading style sheets, micro-formats, XHTML and HTML are not ingenious concepts, but, at the end of the day Web 2.0 is a new dawn and a new day for Internet users to successfully integrate life and information.
A Comparison of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0
The amount of accomplishments that have been made in addition to the structure is surprising. Web 1.0 began as a place for businesses to broadcast information to people. Now, many years later, it has become a place for people to offer up information as well.
It is this integration of people and the Web that is the heart of the Web 2.0 creation. In the beginning, people read what others wrote and they were comfortable with the knowledge. But, over time, these same people decided they wanted to be a part of the information superhighway.
Families began creating home pages to keep in touch with members many miles away. AOL was the hottest Internet service provider in the nation and Netscape was a thing of beauty. Now, times have moved forward and these concepts have faded amidst a blurringly large amount of information, data and words.
There are simply too many words on the Internet. Too much information all gathered under one preface: www. Moving from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 has nothing to do with programmers and data engineers, it has to do with people all gathering together to become a part of one large communities.
No longer will humans sit back and merely listen to the news they are fed, they will blog, forum post and comment to everyone they know, how they feel about that news. No longer will people need to keep track of web addresses; RSS feeds will live on computer screens. The new Web is and will be, the “Digital Natives” gift to the future generations.
The differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are numerous, interfaces are more friendly, informations are more global, people are more connected and datas are more easily searched. With time, Web 2.0 will become commonplace, but for now, relish the new and exciting nature of community togetherness.
