John Dvorak's recent article in PC Magazine entitled "Bubble 2.0 Coming Soon" discusses how Web 2.0 might end up like the dot-com bubble of the late 1990's. I believe that we've learned a lot since then and are extremely wary of dot-com 2.0. And while there is indeed lots of hype around Web 2.0, there are some fundamental shifts being enabled through these technologies that yield significant, quantifiable benefits worth paying attention to.
For example at Socialtext, our customers are finding that wikis - a core Web 2.0 technology - provide clear advantages for enabling collaboration, capturing and re-using knowledge, accelerating project cycle times, and fostering communities. And in many cases, wikis are solving problems by reducing email overload, increasing productivity, and better connecting users together.
I've recently spoken with Socialtext customers saving millions on support by leveraging wikis, so employees (and in some cases their own customers) can more easily contribute solutions to more quickly and easily deliver support. And I've talked to global sales teams finding the wiki as a better way to build on-the-fly training materials, capture competitive and market intelligence, as well as share this information with partners and across the sales organization. I've also seen product development teams living on the wiki to more efficiently track projects, build cross-functional teams, and stimulate innovation. And I've even seen educational institutions, like Boston College, where the students are getting better grades, since wikis foster better dialogue between students and with faculty and staff.
I think hidden in the PR hype around Web 2.0 and our general wariness around a repeat of dot-com 1.0, there is indeed something happening with Web 2.0 technologies, like wikis, and how they re-shape the landscape for communication and collaboration. The resulting benefits are being demonstrated every day - through Wikipedia.com or maybe at the company where you work - and this warrants each of us remaining truly open and enthusiastic about these technologies, regardless of Dvorak's gloomy predictions.
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