$OA and Web 2.0 - Where's the join?

The Web 2.0 Blog has an interesting discussion on Web 2.0 and SOA. (http://web2.wsj2.com/web_20_and_soa_contrived_or_converging.htm). How I have come to grips with the issue is to look back at the history of the Internet and the emergence of e-commerce. In the early days of the web it was a fairly easy proposition to construct a web page and post it to a web server. However, going beyond that static page in to the world of e-commerce took a lot of serious infrastructure. Web 2.0 and SOA can be considered an evolution. Web 2.0 is very much more focused around moulding together consumer-facing components via a rich delivery platform with Ajax, flash etc. SOA's strengths lie in stitching together the behind the scenes components that are required to deliver a service. Web 2.0 and SOA (or $OA as I prefer to identify it) address two sides of the same problem. They are both vast canvases with many different contributing components. $OA is really about identification and orchestration of software components to create comprehensive workflows. When those workflows involve or trigger the movement or apportionment of money a robust infrastructure is essential to protect the interests of all the involved parties. . Web 2.0 can really be considered the user or consumer facing view of the evolving web. Both Web 2.0 and $OA need to exist. They simply bring different strengths and address different aspects of a much bigger picture.