41998c19.qxd:Blogging Heroes
2/24/08
7:28 PM
Page 233
Bob Brewin & Tim Bray: Sun Microsystems
233
Web 1.0 in their technology. The technology is the facilitator, and it reduces friction, but it is not a dispenser of things. The dispenser of things is the new information flows and the culture of contribution.
You’ve already indicated this to some extent, but let me ask what you consider the most important aspect or feature of what you are calling Web 2.0? Tim: The fact that you can be part of it. The fact that if you want to contribute, you don’t have to be a journalist, an analyst, or a university professor. The fact that if you want to build a web site, you don’t have to have studied Java EE for years. That is a big deal. Bob: To quote a commercial, “Not only can you be a founder, but you can be a member.” I think that is where it gets very interesting. There isn’t a single-entity control or anything anymore. That is the beauty of it.
Looking at the other side of the question, what do you believe people are getting wrong or misunderstanding about Web 2.0 and all the hype? Tim: The hype is the problem. If you go around the Bay and not just Silicon Valley, it is definitely getting a little bit “bubblicious” these days. That’s okay. At the end of the day bubbles tend to have good aftermath. One thing that is good about this bubble is that it is less expensive than the Web 1.0 bubble was. So, the hangover will be less painful once we wake up. There is no doubt that people are painting the Web 2.0 label on anything they are trying to sell these days.
Do you think there is a bubble, and do you think it is going to burst? Bob: Is there a bubble in the sense of Web 2.0? No. I think there is a bubble in the sense of the hype. I think that it is becoming pragmatic, and people are realizing that there is something real here, and they are understanding how they can build to this thing. Not only that, but they can then leverage it and use it. In terms of the ultimate endgame that it is going to solve world hunger, I think that people have made that bubble go away. The other thing I’d like to address is the misconception that Web 2.0 is just about a specific technology—that it is just Ajax, or Java, or Ruby, or one of the many technologies being used by developers.