Web2 Confusion

Good Case

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/10754970/1/c_10794184?f=home_todayinfinance

Web 2.0, Confusion 1.5

Is there something fundamentally different about the Internet today?

Scott Leibs, CFO Magazine

March 4, 2008

When a photograph of a flaming laptop computer circulated on the Internet in the summer of 2006, Dell Computer quickly got a two-part lesson in the power of Web 2.0.

The lesson had little to do with the risks of an extended supply chain (the fire was the result of a faulty battery made by a third party and used in laptops and other devices manufactured by many companies) and everything to do with the risks — and opportunities — of a phenomenon that some tout as the Next Big Thing, others claim is already passé, and still others maintain doesn't exist at all.

"Web 2.0" is a term used to describe both a collection of relatively new Web technologies and, perhaps more important for CFOs, the changes in business processes that those technologies make possible. Collectively these technologies, which include blogs, podcasts, social networks, and other innovations (see "The ABC's of 2.0" at the end of this article), emphasize the Web's ability to foster communication, between companies and customers, between employees, or both.

The debate regarding Web 2.0's status as a legitimate paradigm shift, a brief fad, or a complete myth hinges on two things. First, there is no clear dividing line between Web 1.0 and any subsequent second generation. The Web was created to foster communication, and continuous enhancements have improved its ability to do so, making it virtually impossible to point to any time period or specific development that qualifies as an unambiguous leap forward. Second, at least some of the technologies that are often identified with Web 2.0 seem more gimmicky than substantive, appealing to younger Web users who will embrace anything new, but unlikely to have a lasting impact on how most people use the Web.

Despite those caveats,...