Monday, October 13, 2008

Storage Networking World Conference

Just a note to shamefully publish the fact that I will be speaking at the Storage Networking World conference in Dallas on October 16th. Please stop by and introduce yourself or just say "howdie".

Web 2.0 Does it really Exist?

There have been numerous occasions where we have all heard buzz words used to describe some current trend or a group of individuals. Generation X or Generation Y come to mind first.

Now we are hearing Web 2.0 being thrown about these days to describe updated applications for gaining access to information. Maybe the information is new to the individuals using it or the application is delivered in a novel way, such as as as service rather than shrink wrapped software for your desktop. But does that constitute something radically new so as to justify the 2.0 designation?

I have been hearing this term used more and more these days and quite frankly it has made me a bit upset at the notion that all of a sudden everything that is web based is new. Clearly this is not the case. Likewise, some have equated social networking sites with Web 2.0. Even though I will admit that some of the social networking sites are providing a valuable service not previously conceived of I hardly think that the underlying infrastructure for the services being provided is that unusual. So how is it that we have designated some of these sites as Web 2.0?

To me it seems like a lot of hype. What is important is how these applications are used and can anyone gain a competitive edge using them. Does that justify a trade show devoted to them? All we wind up with are a bunch of providers trying to fit their applications into the Web 2.0 designation for marketing purposes. That is not particularly innovative.

Let your applications and their usefulness stand on its own, without the labels, and let the market decide if they are worthy of support.