Many people in our industry don't like them and criticize the terms for having more to do with marketing than anything tangible. Tim Berners Lee (founder of the web) is one of the people that has a problem with Web 2.0.
Personally I heard them so much now all my hatred has just about died down. :) That said, I understand the frustration. In a developer's eyes, blogging is just a different flavor of a web forum, and to a scripter AJAX is a variation of an iframe, albeit a much better version =)
I am just curious how long the "web 2.0" hype with respect to the masses will continue for. I have to assume by the years end it will be common knowledge that "web 2.0" is behind us. However, that being said, "Web 2.0" very much existed and might not be worth talking about in a forward-thinking context, but can't be ignored for its place in history (however small lived or insignificant).
To answer your original question as to what I thought of the term (past tense). You can read my thoughts on it: Web 2.0 redefined with one word -- responsibility ( http://www.marylandmedia.com/2006/07/web-20-redefined-with-one-word.html )
From the article: "The term “Web 2.0” has been overused and has unfortunately oversaturated conversations to the point of being synonymous with industry ignorance. Like many leaders and followers of innovation – we role our eyes at the mere mention of the idea of the existence of such a term. Whether you like the term or not is a matter of semantics – the reality is that we’ve truly embarked upon a time of standards and sophistication that demand an evolutionary identifying mark. We have entered a moment that now more than ever before demands responsible design/development."
Ooooh, good question. "Web 2.0" as a term, I think, has overstayed its welcome. It's become the buzz term: "We're leveraging our Web 2.0 paradigms," etc. etc. The philosophy behind Web 2.0, though, is still very relevant. Building sites and apps to (open) standards, allowing others to mix up and mash up your stuff with their stuff with others' stuff is a concept that has a lot of mileage left.
As much as we despise buzzwords as being the lingo of The Man, unfortunately, our industry is filled with them. Otherwise, we'd waste our breath saying things like "asynchronously request data from the server without reloading the page." "AJAX" is just simpler.
AJAX describes a specific technology/technique so, as a phrase, it isn't going anywhere. "Web 2.0" is a much larger, ephemeral thing. Odds are we'll be hearing them both for quite a while, though.
Rob: Do you feel that buzzwords like “Web 2.0” are healthy for the web or do they do more harm than good?
Andy: We use the term web 2.0 around the office, because it’s a common reference point and we all understand what we’re referring to. However, we try to avoid using the term with clients because the point of reference isn’t always the same. Imagine a situation where a client is trying to communicate one concept, but the developer is understanding something else. As such, we try to be as explicit as possible. Is it the social aspect you’re talking about, the openness of data, the richer user experience, or simply the design aesthetic? I don’t think the term itself is harmful. It’s the potential for misunderstanding and miscommunication that causes the problems.
Web 2.0 still is a sore spot for me. It is such a non-descript term that it was instantly vulnerable to being misused. It started out alright, but started becoming inappropriately used, and still is to the point where it can be misused because it just sounds good [Grrr...] If it were a more descriptive term, it wouldn't be subject to being thrown around on a whim.
AJAX is fine for me, I just wish that more people knew what the J stood for.... that, and the actual xhttprequest part.
Coming very late to the thread - I'm very much with Mr. Garber on this one. To further interject my own personal opinion (which is what was originally asked about), I have to say I'm more bothered by the people who waste time "hating" terms than those who over- or mis-use them (or use them at all). It seems that people in our industry often will deride terms and phrases that have achieved popular use - not to mention the people that use them - in an effort to show just how enlightened and hip and above-it-all they are. I don't think it really works as well as they'd like it to.
Me, I have better things to do than care much about what people are calling things. AJAX is a perfectly useful acronym to describe a commonly used pattern of design. Web 2.0 is perhaps diluted due to mis-use, but to those of us who know what it's supposed to mean it's still useful and relevant.
All I know is that "Web 2.0" and "Ajax" as buzz words still sell to the masses. If you show them lightbox and call it "Ajax" (yes, I realize it isn't actually Ajax), it's like you given them magic and they are willing to pay for it. Whether it be a naive client or buzz-word happy boss-- you have to give them what they want and most of them are still asking for us to make it more "web 2.0". Education within our niche group is crucial, but trying to convince the masses that the use of these popular terms is wrong or inappropriate is a waste of breathe.