Web 2.0 will test your hype (and Star Wars) IQ

Whether or not we admit it, most people even tangentially involved in the technology business are worried that Web 2.0 is another economic bubble, they are simultaneously distressed that they'll miss out on the boom, and they are concerned that the whole thing could blow up at any time.

For those who are overly anxious, Cerado, Inc., of Half Moon Bay, Calif., has posted a clever quiz to help assess Web 2.0 awareness. Called “Web 2.0 or Star Wars Character?” the quiz asks you to determine whether a given name is that of a Web 2.0 business or - you guessed it - a character from any of the Star Wars films.

Barada, Favoor, Meebo, Jarjar, Daala, Tarkin. Do you know which is which?

The quiz - and its score rakings - make for good fun, but it also seems to me that it suggests something about the inflation of the bubble and the insider-ness that is driving the tech market today.

Perhaps I see the connection only because I've talked with BriteSoft (DEMOfall 2006) CEO Fazel Naghshineh about what he perceived as the consumer focus of DEMOfall 2006. I contend the DEMO is always a reflection of the activity in the market. Fazel doesn't disagree, but insists that few of the 700 people at the conference were interested in anything but the latest Web 2.0 features. He would argue, I think, that the insiders have turned, en masse, to the consumer market.

Enterprise void

When the mass of attention turns to one direction, it suggests the need to evaluate what is being overlooked. And a market overlooked is a market opportunity. Enterprise business applications and services is that market opportunity. As more attention focuses on consumer Web services, a void forms in the enterprise market.

Companies such as BriteSoft are filling that void for customers, even if they aren't getting the attention of the popular media. Fortunately, the media doesn't matter as much as the customers do. Enterprise customers have needs that won't be satisfied by the current focus on consumer Web services.

In the months to come, the pendulum will swing from its current position and business technology again will be in vogue. Those companies living today in the shadow of Web 2.0 will have their moment - even if they don't know whether Jarjar is a Star Wars character or a Web service.

Recent articles by Chris Shipley

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