WEB 2.0 Convergence

The definition of Web 2.0 is a controversial subject. Tim Berners-Lee calls the term a "piece of jargon", but then goes on to state his vision of the web as a read/write medium for sharing of papers. Clearly the World Wide Web has already evolved far beyond that.

This tag cloud from Wikipedia gives a suggestion as to the current and future state of the WWW

My current favorite Web 2.0 example is Second Life, which allows a variety of novel interactions to occur which would not be practical in the real world. We are already using it for holding "Classes" among students who are geographically dispersed. It could also be used to teach in really dangerous situations, such as bomb defusing.

Extending Second Life to, for instance, moving robots through a hazardous environment, such as a burning building, partially collapsed coal mine, or badly damaged nuclear reactor, should allow for a type of augmented reality that does not currently exist. Just as now, there is no requirement for the participants to be at any particular place.