Web 2.0 is different

An article in Economist

As we head into 2007, there are by some counts more than 400 social-networking
sites, all trying to become the next MySpace; more than 200 web-video sites, all
trying to become another YouTube; more than 300 “social-bookmarking” sites, and
hundreds of “meta-sites” that “aggregate” the other sites by spitting out
computer-generated lists of hyperlinks. Rhetorically, the entrepreneurs behind
these sites usually claim that they will make money from “advertising”. In
reality, most hope to sell themselves to Google, Yahoo!, News Corporation or one
of the other “new” or “old” media giants long before they have to prove any
revenue model

I read an interesting piece on Time about Web 2.0 and how it is different from the earlier dot com craze. Check out the article here. Some pointers.

1. The earlier dotcom craze was a "public bubble, funded by Wall Street, and this is a private one, financed by venture capital”.” The most common business model now is "build to flip"—start a small company and quickly sell it to the highest bidder."

2.The Web 2.0 companies need to show that they can make profits and are sustainable. The model should indicate how they can earn revenues or at least prove that they have a huge user base. A huge user base makes it an attractive offer for the buyer.
Google in spite of having its own Google Video bought You Tube simply because it had a huge set of users.

3. Google is the key buyer in this case. It has huge reserves of money and wants is buying everything that might have a future. So, we had google docs, spreadsheets, picasa ,blogger etc. Start ups are being conceptualized with the idea that Google might acquire them in the future.

4. Spending is controlled. Even if the start ups get money from VCs, they make sure that they spend it carefully.Perks and benefits offered during the earlier dot com craze are reduced.No more stylish offices, everything is operated from home.

5. The earlier web craze was changing the brick and mortar business to online. From newspaper to books selling to toys to insurance, everything was sold on the internet. The Web 2.0 is more based on user feedback and is driven by the masses.
The growing popularity of Wikipedia, Blogger, You Tube proves that it is the user that is deciding the success of a dot com.
That is the reason why Time made "You" as the person of the year.

Some cool websites:

Time's 50 Coolest Websites:
Time's 25 Sites We Can't Live Without:
Reader's Choice of best websites:

And here is a photo album of the new boyz all set to create a dhoom in the world of internet.