the blog

Web 2.0-ness

Date

8/26/2007 11:33:00 PM [permalink]

Author

yahooza

Entry

The key difference to what is happening now to the internet versus the bubble of 7-10 years ago is the openness of web applications. Some may say the Ajax-y (I really dislike that term) interfaces are snappy and cool; however, it's just another neat feature to a user. Whether it makes a remote call via JavaScript or makes another request for another webpage is trivial: it does the same thing. Ajax is just another buzzword.

What differentiates the new breed of the web is exposing application data via open APIs. A company can build webapps w/ Prototype, Symfony, etc. In the end, it's yet another closed, walled environment. The market is now saturated with social-networking sites and internet media portals. If your reach is only within your website, your features or your market / niche expertise won't get you to profitability.

Open APIs allow developers to create and virally market products without lifting a finger. They also extend to multiple interfaces, piggybacking on the platform. Mobile, Tv, Media Center plug-ins, desktop widgets, iPhone apps, etc .... A lot of websites concentrate on the web view, new features and attracting eyeballs, but they should, rather, worry about building their infrastructure and API.

If you can't build a solid platform to extend your product across a myriad of internet applications, you're gonna be left out of 3.0.

Labels: web2.0

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