I often get asked about the difference between Web 1 and Web 2
This is my new favourite answer:
Web 1.0 was invented to allow physicists to share research papers.
Web 2.0 was created to allow people to share pictures of cute cats.
Hat tip: Ethan Zuckerman
Fabbo :)
Posted by: Charles Frith | Friday, 11 April 2008 at 04:55 AM
This is good! In fact I have just stolen it for a presentation I am doing next week, thereby making two points - yours, and one about the nature of sharing and collaboration.
Posted by: Philip Young | Friday, 11 April 2008 at 09:04 AM
I really like this it very simply describes the complexities of the social networking phenomena that Web 2.0 encapsulates. I think I will also be stealing this!!
Posted by: Karl Turley | Friday, 11 April 2008 at 01:43 PM
Steal with pride! It's a classic, really made me laugh.
Posted by: Amelia | Saturday, 12 April 2008 at 02:28 AM
That's genius Amelia. I too shall be using it in a presentation before the month is out.
Posted by: Stan Lee | Saturday, 12 April 2008 at 02:45 PM
Haha, vfunny. Anything that means loads of people will be getting lolcats into presentations has got to be good!
Posted by: Jaz Cummins | Saturday, 12 April 2008 at 03:34 PM
simple! you've just nail it!
Posted by: daria | Sunday, 13 April 2008 at 07:57 PM
Many thanks for making me laugh :)
How succinct and accurate. So how would you describe what to expect with web 3.0? Aren
Posted by: Aren Grimshaw | Monday, 14 April 2008 at 02:01 PM
Many thanks for making me laugh :)
How succinct and accurate. So how would you describe what to expect with web 3.0? Aren
Posted by: Aren Grimshaw | Monday, 14 April 2008 at 02:02 PM
Brilliant - that about sums it up!
Posted by: Antony Mayfield | Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 11:47 AM
Damn lolcats! On a serious note, the reason I read your blog is to dip a toe into areas I have absolutely no formal knowledge of. I'm on the technical side of information technology, and for me your tech writing is a good indicator of user taste and trends.
As for web 2.0, it's an exciting, but contentious concept. A network engineer or systems analyst might tell you it doesn't exist from a specification point of view, but they will understand what the term means. It's a natural extension of network application usage; the potential for which has always been there. Greater connectiviy (more subscribers) and the subsequent evolution of applications are straightforward enough to identify and plot. Social networking sites are a good example; Facebook and Myspace have seen pretty much the same utilisation that characterised email in the 90's - chain spam, funny pictures and urban myths (many are exactly the same!).
The fun part is figuring out where it is all going!
Posted by: James | Friday, 18 April 2008 at 11:09 AM