Web 2.0 – new tools, amazing functionality, vast opportunities

Do yourself a favour and follow this link, click on any of the pushpins on the map, suspend the disbelief for a moment and pretend you’re looking for an apartment to buy – apart from the wonderful organization of complex information, it’s a perfect example of the amazing functionality which could both disrupt and enhance current practices in the real estate industry and a great example of what a lot of people are referring to as “Web 2.0.” The term does not refer to a new version of the internet, but another fundamental development in the way that web sites are working together to provide an experience previously unthinkable.

The concept of Web 2.0 is explained well here, and technology behind these wonderful new web applications is called Ajax, which is explained in laymans terms here and given some perspective here. Ajax has become the driving force behind some exciting new free web-based applications such as the Writely word-processor, NumSum spreadsheet and our favourite, Voo2do, a site that "offers advanced task and priority management for busy, ambitious individuals". Ajax threatens the very existence of PC-based software applications, and might even reinvent the entire software and internet industries, not to mention offering myriad new business possibilities. What a wonderful time to be alive!