Comments on: Web 2.0 — mirage, distraction or gimmick? http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2007/06/05/web-20-mirage-distraction-or-gimmick/ ... at the intersection of media, technology, business and the web Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:01:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Alex Beamish http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2007/06/05/web-20-mirage-distraction-or-gimmick/comment-page-1/#comment-267970 Alex Beamish Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:30:53 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2007/06/05/web-20-mirage-distraction-or-gimmick/#comment-267970 Web 2.0 is really just another way of saying client/server or thin client/fat client. The first interactive computer systems were the ultimate thin client -- the computer did all of the work, and all the client did was display output and accept keystrokes. (Anyone remember the Lear-Seigler ADM-3A, marketed as the Dumb Terminal?) Early web sites were static pages only, followed by dynamic pages -- but apart from a few browser widgets like dropdown lists, entry fields and pushbuttons, the client was still thin and dumb. (No hotel heiress jokes, please.) We've now progressed along the continuum where the client's fatter and smarter -- and the web experience is much better for it. I bet Tim and Marc are happy to see the web the way it is now -- it was pretty geeky to begin with. Yep -- Web 2.0 is here to stay, and that's a Good Thing. Web 2.0 is really just another way of saying client/server or thin client/fat client.

The first interactive computer systems were the ultimate thin client — the computer did all of the work, and all the client did was display output and accept keystrokes. (Anyone remember the Lear-Seigler ADM-3A, marketed as the Dumb Terminal?)

Early web sites were static pages only, followed by dynamic pages — but apart from a few browser widgets like dropdown lists, entry fields and pushbuttons, the client was still thin and dumb. (No hotel heiress jokes, please.)

We’ve now progressed along the continuum where the client’s fatter and smarter — and the web experience is much better for it. I bet Tim and Marc are happy to see the web the way it is now — it was pretty geeky to begin with.

Yep — Web 2.0 is here to stay, and that’s a Good Thing.

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