The joy of working at Sun in the Software Business Unit is that we sometimes get wind of what's coming...   New whiz bang features, dream products being implemented by our imagineering gurus, roadmaps that simple boggle the mind.

Quite recently, not long after seeing Sun's website cover about Web 2.0, I was given the opportunity to sit in on a Web x.y Product Planning Meeting.

While I thought I knew the key points about the Web product line, I was surprised at how much I learned at this meeting!   It was clearly evident that everyone accepts Web 1.0 was absolutely stunning and out performed all expectations.   Half a generation ago, no one could have predicted the stunning effect Web 1.0 would have on the world, on lifestyles, on the way we do business, on the way we play, on how we interact with others around the globe.   It was like the world became smaller overnight.   And, as you know, now Web 2.0 is getting a lot of airtime, growing in acceptance and increased use every day, every minute, everywhere.   Fabulous!

But what's coming next?   That was the topic of the Web x.y PPM.

So far, we have only had 46 escalations against Web 2.0, and from those, only a few patches resulted.   As product quality goes, those are impressive stats for a product that's been out there for as long as Web 2.0 has been!   However, the current RFE count (Requests For Enhancements), which is over 1750, has surprised everyone.   So much so, that it stirred our Marketing team into action, resulting in an aggressive and exciting roadmap for the Web x.y product line.

The Web x.y Product Approval Committee (PAC) this week voted 28 to 3 in favour of moving forward with Marketing's Roadmap.   Web 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 will quietly sneak out to the marketplace over the next several months (assuming we keep to the aggressive release cycle proposed).   But when Web 3.0 comes, watch out world!   But that's still a ways off.

Problem is, this is NOT how this Web 2.0 thing really works!

So, here's the problem.   Web 2.0 is NOT a product.   I don't mind admitting that until a week ago, I thought it was!   But after listening to my husband's explanation, now I think I get it!   So, for those still trying to figure it out, let me see if I can help a little....   Just remember, I'm a novice here....

Web 1.0.   The Network Is The Computer.   The Internet is born.   Information is provided on the web.   People go to the web.   They read web pages.   Successful web businesses make their revenue targets by selling products & services on the web to the brave new users of The Internet.   Warehouses and employees stand behind many websites.

Web 2.0.   The Network Is The Computer + It's The Participation Age.   Website users create content.   Structures are provided, but it's the users that make websites successful.   Imagine the popular auction websites and "for sale" websites without the users!   Of course, they would fail.   So, how do these websites stay in business?   Well, for starters, vendors and businesses make money by selling advertising "airtime" instead of just products.   For the chance that the user might see their advert and be tempted to learn more, companies pay for advertising space.   Warehouses become optional.   Users provide "the product".   And in come cases, such as in chatrooms, I guess the users themselves are (in some strange Web 2.0 kind of way) the product.

Web 3.0...?   So, in reality, what is the Next Level for the Internet?   I have no clue.   But then I'm still learning to live in a world with Web 2.0.   In the meantime, my patient husband Georg just wandered up to bed, mumbling about losing his wife to Web 2.0....   Chat rooms, auctions, blogs...   I am adding content to the web without having to write HTML code.   I participate.   I interact.   I am helping to fill disks all over the world!

I am Web 2.0.

PS - Click here to learn more about Web 2.0 in a easy to read, enlightening work by Andy Budd.