Web 2.0 v. Web 1.0

What is the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? I should know, because I was there for the whole of 1.0 and I'm back at the trough for 2.0. Some say this is a bubble like 1999. I say, they obviously weren't there, because this is so unlike '99 as to be a different world. But it's not just different in that we haven't got to the bubble yet. It just is different. Things have moved on and we understand this medium a whole lot better. There are real people in the hundreds of millions out there and loads of real businesses. It's not to say this isn't a great time to be in business, it is. In fact, it's better than last time round for lots of reasons. Here are some of them.

1. Children
In Web 1.0 nobody had children. Children didn't exist. Now, everyone has children and we talk about them all the time.

2. Suits
In Web 1.0 everybody wore suits. Now, no-one wears a suit. I took up suit wearing sometime in 1995 and didn't take it off again until I had no business to wear it to. This time round, I will not don a suit and I haven't met anyone else who will either.

3. Magazines
First time round, there were loads of new and buzzy magazines set on changing the world. They were designed just for our reading habits and we read them eagerly.Looking at the newsstand this morning I realised how irrelevant survivors Wired and Business 2.0 had become.

4. Books
There aren't any about 2.0. I guess they are being written, but during 1.0 new books were published every week with great titles like What Will Be and Making The Killer Application. We bought them all and fully intended to read them. During the lull (2000 to 2005) I went back and tried to read them, but they were all unreadable.

5. IPOs
There aren't any. In 1.0 bish, bash, bosh - there was an almighty IPO every week, almost every day. Everyone was expected to IPO on Nasdaq, even if they were a tiny french company with no revenues. Have you IPO'd yet? was the question you were most likely to be asked, even by people who had no idea what it meant.

6. Trade Shows
My experience of 1.0 was defined by the Internet World show and conference. I had a stand at the first UK Internet World and attended religilously every west coast and east coast show until 2000. I watched them explode in size until they threatened to take over the world. This time round, we have some excellent little conferences that aren't even conferences. I went to Internet World in London - the internet part had about ten stands.

7. Blogs
I think we've already forgotten what the world was like before there were blogs. From my perspective, last time round I never understood what VCs did or how they did it, let alone how they thought about the world. Now I read a huge variety of blogs and I get key insights into what everyone is doing. Last time round we blundered around in the dark. Blogs have opened our eyes.

8. Parties
It may just be that I'm ten years older and have two children and have moved out of London, but where are all the great parties?

9. Laptops
We all had them last time round, but they weren't really connected to anything. The number of times I went on a long business trip and never once managed to get my laptop connected to the net. I spent hours plugging into phone networks and signing up for local dial up services. This time, I arrive at my hotel, open the MacBook, and hey presto I'm connected without even plugging anything in. I never could have written this blog last time round.

10. Business plans
This time round I have yet to be offered a business plan on spec by a supposedly professional advisor. Last time, you could hardly go to a meeting without a plan being pulled from an inner pocket, or at least hearing a confession from the person you were meeting that they were 'working on a startup, you know, can I send you the plan'.

Comments

[Irakli]

Mostly still the same people.

Less hair adorning the guys' heads but more experience. Which is why a larger percentage of 2.0 ventures should work out ok.

Although experiencing 1.0 in London was one fantastic experience :)

[Richard]

Parties? Erm.....I think people are too busy creating the future.

Like your site. Snipperoo indeed!

Rich