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“The Big Ideas in Web 2.0”

Bebo White

bebo@slac.stanford.edu

InterLab2006

FermiLab

October 2006

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“Web 1.0 was all about connecting people. It was an interactive space, and I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means. If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people. But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along. And in fact, you know, this 'Web 2.0,' it means using the standards which have been produced by all these people working on Web 1.0.”

--Tim Berners-Lee, August 2006

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What is Web 2.0? (1/2)

• A marketing term, a buzzword, but moreover an ATTITUDE

• Shifts the focus to the user of the information, not the creator of the information

• Information moves “beyond” Web sites

• Information has properties and these properties follow each other and find relationships

• Information comes to users as they move around

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What is Web 2.0? (2/2)

• Information is broken up into “microcontent” units that can be distributed over many domains

• Interaction is no longer limited to (X)HTML

• Users are able to control how information is categorized and manipulated

• User agent becomes a “fat” rather than “thin” client

• Requires a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways

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Properties of the “2.0 Generation”

• Low Barrier

• Self-Service

• Networked

• Cost-Effective

• Open

• Decentralized

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The Big Ideas in Web 2.0

1. Write semantic markup and scatter microcontent (transition to XML)

2. Provide Web services (move away from place)

3. Shift to programming (separation of structure and style)

4. Users contribute content and metadata (social networks)

5. Rich user interfaces (users are in control)

6. Re-use of content (remixing when needed)

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12(Dion Hinchcliffe)

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Consider All the Ways That Users Can Contribute Content

• People (not just Web sites) can/have become entities on the Internet

• It’s not just people using data, but people developing capabilities

• Users contribute to the content of Web sites• Not to be confused with “user-centered” design• More like collaborative authoring• Not just with blogs, wikis, annotation, tagging,

rating, etc. (e.g., xFolk)• Some of these tools “blend” into the

background

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Rich User Interfaces

• Not just about Ajax, client-side scripting

• Goal: Make user feel that the interface is exclusively for them– Customized– Directly manipulated– Fast

• Problems– Accessibility– Security, privacy

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Content Re-use

• Started with Google Maps and Google Hacks

• Mashups draw on multiple data sources to create rich Web applications

• Typically built on APIs and XML content

• Reduced development cost and increased user satisfaction

• Numerous mashup toolkits

• Expected to hit maturation in 2 years (Gartner Group)

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Mashups By the Rules (1/2)

• Protect proprietary data that might “leak out” via mashups

• License external sources to avoid surprises; for free sources, know the license terms

• Create a directory of XML and RSS data feeds from internal data sources for mashup developers

• Exploit mashups as a lightweight integration option with external partners for non-critical functions

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Mashups By the Rules (2/2)

• Mashup toolkits are at an early stage- keep evaluating

• Develop and enforce policies for mashups, but don’t make them too restrictive or you’ll defeat the purpose of lightweight development

• Start small with “no-brainers”

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“What really deserves the numeral 2 associated with it at this time in history is not advertising, nor marketing, nor SOA, nor even the Web. It's quite a bit larger than that. What we are up to here is actually Knowledge 2.0, and it is at least a millennial trend, and it shows every indication of having anthropologic impact. That is, Knowledge 2.0 is changing the definition of what it is to be a modern human, individually and collectively.”

---Dana Gardner 8/31/06

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(Dion Hinchcliffe)

Enterprise 2.0 (1/2)

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Enterprise 2.0 (2/2)

• “The liberation of often previously inaccessible corporate information to be opened up to general discoverability, consumption, and reuse using a Web-based model” – Dion Hinchcliffe

• A platform shift mostly about the enabling technologies and riding on the back of Web 2.0

• “A neologism of dubious utility” – unknown Wikipedia editor

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Ten Top Management Fears About Enterprise Web 2.0 (1/2)

• Technological Barriers– Certainty that information gathered and shared

behind a firewall stays behind the firewall– Access control to particular levels of information and

databases– Protection against malicious tampering– Proper tagging– Employee training

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Ten Top Management Fears About Enterprise Web 2.0 (2/2)

• Cultural Barriers– System monitoring to insure adherence to corporate

policy– Legal and ethical issues– Productive vs. non-productive use– How to manage the gathering and dissemination of

large amounts of unstructured data– Measuring ROI

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Evolution to an “Internet Singularity”

(http://web2.wsj2.com/)

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Thanks for your patience!

Questions? Comments?

bebo@slac.stanford.edu