Web 2.0 and Interactive Systems

I've always felt that as the web interface improved, vendors, web sites and "people" will begin to demand more interactive I/O with the end users.

At first, I felt that the need to download special frontends will be required and hence this would slow down the moment - it will be really stupid if you had to download a special frontend from everyone.

With HTML + JavaScript and other things like Flash, lump together as WEB 2.0, the need to download frontends has been less and less. WEB 2.0 sites exploded in the year or so, and the greater speed of computers and higher bandwidths, interactive sites has become very useful and usable.

But guess what?

Now you are seeing vendors requiring you to download special frontends! Microsoft has its LIVE plans, Adobe has its Apollo flash, Google has its download agents, like Google Desktop, Google Earth, Yahoo is the same game, and with the video explosion, new you are beginning to see new ventures that will require new special downloads!!

For video, it seems the fight for consumer mindset be Microsoft (Media Player) vs Adobe (Flash) vs Apple (QuickTime). Could you imagine having to have three TV Cable Boxes, one for each vendor just to watch TV? Someone has to grab this and create a universal standard here.