What is Web 2.0 / a web app (or, the desktop application is not dead)

Every time I go online these days I see websites being called “long tailed” AJAX web 2.0 applications. While next to anyone can call a site “web 2.0″ – what are the real benefits of web applications over a desktop application. In most cases, although a single user application may be called “web 2.0″ – the real power lies in the ability for multi user and collaborative access.

Regardless of advances in networking technologies we will never make it faster to edit text in a web browser than it will be to send it over the “tubes of the internets” to a web server somewhere. While one can edit text offline and then send it all in one batch, very much like what I am doing right now when writing this essay in WordPress you will not be able to benefit from instant saves, backup recovery etc that desktop applications can offer.

So, where is the power in Web applications? The biggest advantage out there is the fact that they can be accessed from anywhere. Imagine if you had to go to your bank every time you wanted to make an online banking transaction to use their customized desktop software, it would ruin the whole advantage of online banking. Via the web it makes it simple to access the system from pretty much everywhere with software that is installed on practically every consumer computer on the face of this planet.

Apart from access from anywhere there is one major advantage. Multi user access. Wikipedia for example would not operate if everyone was restricted to one physical location or having to download specialized software to edit a page. Wikipedia works because all one has to do is click a button on a web page and edit a text field. On a business application, SugarCRM and Salesforce work because they allow people to work from anywhere and share the work they are working on with other members of their team.

Web 2.0 could be seen as a fancy marketing term for sites employing lots of AJAX which means no pages to refresh. I don’t believe so. Web 2.0 is an application that has to be accessed remotely via a web browser or it would be next to impossible for people to use. Web 2.0 is applications that require multi user access and can’t tie people to one physical location. Web apps won’t be replacing your desktop word processor anytime soon unless you need to collaboratively create those documents with other people but it will be the dominant force for groupware, CRM, and banking applications.