12 Dec Bold prediction: Web 2.0 goes away in 2007
As the end of the year approaches, the temptation to set forth predictions for 2007 is just too hard to resist. But here’s the deal: I’ll give you my five predictions for the next 12 months if you’ll send me yours. Mine are this week; yours next. Deal? (Send your insights – foresights? – to chris@guidewiregroup.com before the end of the week). So, here goes, my predictions for 2007:
Web 2.0 goes away
Well, not Web 2.0 the development technique to deliver engaging, interactive, Web-based applications, but Web 2.0 hype will fade. It will fade as we realize that what we are calling Web 2.0 today is a natural evolution of Web-based development that began nearly 10 years ago and as the plethora of Web 2.0 companies face the realities of a tough and fickle market. While the best of the ideas will survive, we’ll see consolidation, cherry-picking acquisitions, and a whole lot of used servers for sale on eBay.
Business problems capture attention
While entrepreneurs have turned their collective attention to the get-rich-quick Web 2.0 movement, business customers have been largely ignored. Next year, however, the pendulum swings back to business. After all, they are the customers who have resources and pay for the products they use. Expect, though, the look and feel and service-oriented approach to significantly influence the design and delivery of enterprise software.
Consumer storage is hot
Yeah, I know, I used “storage” and “hot” in the same sentence. Music, digital pictures, video, and the great American novel that everyone seems to be blogging – we need more dynamic places to put all that stuff. Traditional storage vendors are figuring this out, too, and I expect them to bring interesting designs, wrapped in valuable services and software, to market at very consumer-friendly prices in the year to come.
Application “development” shifts to users
Programmers aren’t going anywhere, but new tools, widgets, and mash-up machines will enable non-technically astute individuals to assemble their own applications.
Signal surpasses noise
The “long tail” has made for a very noisy, often frustrating, and usually redundant information environment. Amid the overwhelming atmosphere, individuals will hone their information choices to a few providers that offer the most meaningful and relevant (to them) content. This won’t necessarily mean a thinning of the blog ranks, but it will mean that influence and ad dollars will shift away from mass audience sites to smaller, more content- and context-rich information.
There you have it: my five predictions for 2007. Now it’s your turn. Send your predictions to me at chris@guidewiregroup.com and look for them in this space next week. Feel free to comment below on your thoughts of my five predictions as well.
Recent articles by Chris Shipley
• Chris Shipley: Web 2.0 will test your hype (and Star Wars) IQ
• Chris Shipley: Presto! A 94-year-old woman goes online
• Chris Shipley: The blogosphere as an echo chamber
• Chris Shipley: Dancing with elephants requires nifty footwork
• Chris Shipley: Sometimes, features can make a company
Shipley has worked as a writer and editor for variety of technology consumer magazines, including PC Week, PC Magazine, PC/Computing, and InfoWorld, US Magazine, and Working Woman. She has written two books on communications and Internet technology, has won numerous awards for journalistic excellence, and was named the No. 1 newsletter editor by Marketing Computers for two years in a row. To subscribe to DEMOletter please visit: http://www.idgexecforums.com/demoletter/index.html.
This column was reprinted with permission of Network World Inc. All registered trademarks are owned by IDG. More information can be found at http://www.idgef.com.
The opinions expressed herein or statements made in the above column are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Wisconsin Technology Network, LLC. WTN, LLC accepts no legal liability or responsibility for any claims made or opinions expressed herein.