Web 2.0 obsolete?
October 2nd, 2007
Interesting article in TechWorld where K2 (a software maker) argues that web 2.0 is irritant and irreverent to most companies. Is “web 2.0” really a throw away term used too loosely today? Perhaps. Irreverent? I think it depends on your sector. Banks for example are rarely a leader in any technology. They will be “web 2.0” when everyone is “web 5.0”.
K2 doesn’t explain their definition of web 2.0 but I think you can compare this to fashion. “Cool” people tend to wear the latest designs while conservative people rarely move away from the usual blue/black/white/brown palette. How would you feel if you were to visit a lawyer wearing flashy Puma’s and designer jeans? You might feel more comfortable visiting one whose attire is more conservative (although we all know it doesn’t automatically qualify him as competent). How about visiting a lawyer’s website, filled with pastel, oversized fonts, speech bubbles and, of course, a beta label? Doesn’t that sound strange? At least in this century? If I look at most bank sites, they are not cool and they are not meant to be cool anyways (although some could say that an update is well due for most of them).
What about if you sell jeans to kids? Would you want a bland site or a “web 2.0”-ish site with blogs, profiles, widgets for your blog (i.e. This is the jeans that I want – buy it for me) and some viral marketing stuff on it? I’m sure that even a local plumber would benefit from having a blog. By answering free questions, he could quickly become a star in his hometown.
So… It really depends who you are and who your customers are. I think that K2 went a bit too far by using the term “most”. It’s like saying most companies don’t need computers. Maybe they didn’t 10 years ago but most companies use them nowadays… I suspect same will happen with “web x.0”
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