Web 2.0 - a new dawn?

Jeremy Geelan has been commenting on an article written by Skinner Layne. “Is this the advent of the Post-Modern Internet?”. Skinner raises some interesting questions about Web 2.0 and beyond.

Web 2.0 – Revolution or Mere Rebellion? — Might a phenomenon as young as the Internet have already moved into its second era? Is Web 2.0 more of a rebellion, a corrective to Web 1.0 - or is it a genuine revolution?

Jeremy raises a very good question: Are we entering a new historical period of the Internet and the Web, or merely an extension of the existing one? Just as nobody really remembers Windows 2.0, Web 2.0 is a label we conveniently use to describe a confluence of new technologies and innovative intertwining of established technologies and services. However, under all this turmoil there are some big shifts taking place. As I have commented in previous posts here and hereI am seeing a transition to a more personal internet with the access device of choice being the cell phone. The constraints of screen resolution and input methods on even high end smartphones are helped by the latest innovations in user interface design that we see with Web 2.0. The move away from big html form pages to incremental, guided data entry using Ajax actually helps the cell phone. In many countries around the world Internet-enabled cell phones outnumber Internet-connected PCs by a wide margin. For many users the Internet is what they see via their cell phones. The cell phone is a personal device and Web 2.0 is a personal and social phenomenon. I believe we are entering a new era where the cell phone will be the increasingly influential driver in the evolution of the Internet.

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation and leave a comment.