Whatever Web 2.0 really is, and in some ways its an empty ‘container meme’ for a meme that will morph into whatever is most convenient and successful, Yahoo are looking pretty well equiped to give Google a run for their money in the more media centric worlds of social applications and publishing. When did you last use Orkut? When did you last use Flickr?
With a media savvy exec. team and some small but smart acquisitions: Oddpost; Flickr and now Upcoming, Yahoo have the people, the components and the technical approach to create a synergy of social applications with next generation UI.
It used to be that using online apps. was a trade-off of functionality and performance vs not having to worry about maintenance, upgrades or backups or ability to move from one machine to another. With Gmail or Oddpost, there is no trade-off, my desktop email client crashed when I had a GB of email and took minutes to search for anything. Web email is now better all round than desktop versions.
As Anil Dash pointed out, the genealogy of AJAX traces back to the Oddpost founders’ previous project, the Blox online spreadsheet application.
I wouldn’t be surprized if five years from now as the advantages of AJAX style UI, trivially simple RSS driven web services and Weblog driven approaches to online publishing nibble away at Microsoft Office and end up coming full circle with a Blox like replacement for Excel.
Google Maps and Gmail show that their in-house development is strong, but the innovation happens at the edges and with billions in the bank and a competitor that has done some smart acquisitions lately, Google could perhaps do with spending some of that cash on acquiring.
The spread between Google and Yahoo’s shareprice/earnings multiple may narrow.