While some still argue that the term Web 2.0 is silly, others feel that some explanation for it is still needed.

Does “Web 2.0″ mean anything? Till recently I thought it didn’t, but the truth turns out to be more complicated. Originally, yes, it was meaningless. Now it seems to have acquired a meaning. And yet those who dislike the term are probably right, because if it means what I think it does, we don’t need it.

I first heard the phrase “Web 2.0″ in the name of the Web 2.0 conference in 2004. At the time it was supposed to mean using “the web as a platform,” which I took to refer to web-based applications. [Read the rest]