Can we please please stop using the label ‘Web 2.0′? It’s wrong, it’s confusing and it describes nothing.

To me, but hey, maybe it’s just me, it sounds like, okay, and after Web 2.0 there will be a Web 3.0, 4.0 etc.

Maybe there will be even bugfixes and intermediate releases? Are you running the latest Web 2.5.1 already?

Of course not!

Connected to this web 2.0 thing many people usually throw around words like Ajax, tagging, etc. And that’s usually done by people who do not really get what Ajax is. Well, it’s old, it’s out there for ages already, and chances are they’ve been using it already for years while reading their mail in Microsoft Outlook Web Access. So, ajax is not “Web 2.0″, it’s (in their world and wordings) “Web 0.5″!

Remember that you flagged your mail for follow up? You tagged it! And now suddenly that’s called tagging instead of categorization or marking. Web 2.0 again. Please! Let’s open up my weblog and introduce interactivity, let people reply, hey, it’s web 2.0! I just don’t get it…

Use models change, interactivity increases, and as a result technology and functionality changes. But should we really give every change in technology a new label? If so, can we please use a label for that -specific topic area- that really describes what’s going on and not some generalization like ‘Web 2.0′?
For me, the web is a platform. It’s not a product. The platform enables me to run products. The product itself does something and offers me functionality. In ‘Web 2.0′ the platform didn’t change. The products changed. Or better, the use model changed. Sites/applications which are labelled as being ‘web 2.0′ (did you notice it’s mostly marketing people who use the label ‘Web 2.0′ ?) offer just new functionality. They offer people to create content, to share their categorizations (tags), etc. It’s not a new platform, it’s just a new tool.

Oh yes, and I don’t like the label ‘vodcasting’ either…