trisweb.com

All the smart people are talking about it. Seriously, everywhere you go, it’s “I’m not saying ‘Web 2.0′ ever again” this and “I’m not linking to you if you say it” that, or “Web 2.0 is arrogant,” which, wait, I said.

It’s become a dividing issue in the blogosphere (note that’s only the second time I’ve ever used the word blogosphere here—I am not a metablogger—note also I’ve never used the word metablogger except these two little times). Unfortunately, both sides are getting too polar and forgetting the point.

The term itself, I agree, is a bad one. It implies, as many people have said, that it’s the “new version” that makes the “old version” obsolete and stupid, and yes, there is something arrogant about that. I fundamentally have a problem with the idea. Maybe we should call it “Web Plus” instead, because it really does build on the “old web.”

It is not, as everyone seems to think, the new big thing. It’s actually just a few small improvements on the old big thing, and they’re actually just people being smart for once. Suddenly we’ve realized that we can build interesting applications with good interfaces and use the incredible social aspects of the web for useful things, and it is cool. That is “web 2.0″ or “Web Plus” or whatever you want to call it—It’s not a new thing, it’s finally getting the old thing right.

But glorifying it, giving it a word, talking about it as a movement; that’s losing focus.

Glorifying the technologies is just ignorant. They mean nothing. They’re only a means to an end, which can be a better interface—but not necessarily and not automatically, only when used correctly with the right focus. A great interface can exist without AJAX, without taxonomy, without RSS and social networking, and I’d still call it better than most of the self-described “Web 2.0″ apps out there today.

Look at a traditional web app, with none of this new-fangled stuff, like Hotmail, for example. Is it a bad application because it doesn’t use AJAX and tags like Gmail does? No! It’s a bad application because of horrible design, bad layout, a cluttered interface, and that wonderful Microsoft® feel. AJAX and all this web 2.0 stuff is just sugar on top of interfaces that should already be well-thought-out and designed. They do nothing by themselves and mean nothing out of context.

Let’s not get confused about what’s happening to the web. It is not just “cool” technologies or “cool” AJAX-haxors interfaces. It’s an awakening of good user interface design and smart applications that effectively use the technologies available on a platform that severely needs it, and the improvement is so striking that it—the improvement, not the software— is getting too much attention.

Look at it for what it is, and for God’s sake don’t forget why we’re talking about it. We used to do things in a dumb way, and now we’re finally getting smart about it. The focus is to make applications better, not to make them AJAX or Web 2.0. Use whatever technologies you want.