Whether you agree with the moniker or not, the term “Web 2.0″ has really taken off. Many people make mocking air quotes when the say “Web 2.0″ – yet they continue to repeat it constantly. However, despite the term’s popularity, it is nearly impossible to define. As such, that is part of the allure.
Sarah Lacy has taken advantage of the Web 2.0 craze by releasing the book Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good. The book chronicles a selection of the personalities and businesses that have come to define the Web 2.0 scene in Silicon Valley. This includes Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook), Kevin Rose (Digg, Revision3) and Max Levchin (PayPal, Slide) among others.
Lacy is a talented writer and the book is a quick, good read if you follow the Silicon Valley scene. But, it is interesting to note that the book really only chronicles consumer oriented companies. It doesn’t discuss the web sites, the technologies and the people that bring it all together. For example, cloud computing isn’t even mentioned in the book.
There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, Lacy’s speciality is on the social networking side of the web. She is not a technologist and doesn’t pretend to be. Secondly, it is much more “sexy” to talk about consumer applications. Michael Arrington also recently admitted as much.
The last point concerns me a bit because I feel like Enterprise Apps and technologies are under-reported on the web. The only thing people want to write or read about is Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, etc. And, the more that is written about a subject, the more entreprenuers and VCs are drawn to it.
I believe that there is a huge opportunity for startups to take advantage of the “cloud middleware”. Operating somewhere between the big cloud providers and the companies that use these services. Obviously, I don’t know what this killer app will be or I would start the company myself. But, I feel that the industry could see some really big advances with smart entreprenuers entering the scene.
We need to make the cloud more “sexy”. The big sites and the bloggers need to keep talking it up. And, of course, the money and the entrprenuers have to flock to this area. In the meantime, the cloud computing devotees will just have to take comfort knowing that the work they do supports the latest “sexy” web site
Tags: books
