As a web designer and avid technology fan who is plugged in for hours a day, I am sick of hearing about web 2.0. Already. You’ve got rounded edge logos, everyone copying flickr’s color scheme, and reflections everywhere! Ok, maybe I am just jealous that I missed the reflections boat…cause though I think they were cool, I won’t be caught using them now!

Also, isn’t it curious how people are coming out with all their 2.0 apps now? It’s like everyone has been slowly waiting for this moment…and then BAM! Firefox 2.0, Skype 2.0, IE 7! Ok, not IE7. If Microsoft was smart, they would have made it IE 2.0^3!

What Web 2.0 is really about and should be about, is about designing not for yourself, but for your users. When you have a good product, you gain a user base. Good products gain very loyal (and helpful) user bases.
Ok, but aside from the overuse of the term “web 2.0″, I do think the actual event/concept/paradigm-shift is beneficial…even to ornery designers like myself. What Web 2.0 means is that we’re having another collective push at making the web a better place that focuses more on user interaction. We’re expanding technologies, we’re re-evaluating how we design, we’re checking for better usability, we’re aiming to make peoples lives easier and more productive. We’re adopting standards.

Instead of everyone rushing to get a website up and make a million dollars (a la digital gold rush of 1997-2001) we’re seeing a lot of people thinking about how to bring valuable applications to the net and then actually doing so.

Also interesting, is that this is being done by scores of small companies. They develop a product, release it in beta, and let their user-base test it and give them feedback. This is a win for the company. They then integrate the user suggestions, release a full version, and the user wins! No longer do you have to be a software giant to score a web app hit. Small companies are thinking about their users, interacting with their users, and better tailoring products for their users. Big companies need to break out of the mold and follow their lead.

This competition between big and small will ultimately lead to improved products from both. Yahoo came out with an impressive looking bookmark sharing site…and now (hopefully) del.ico.us will step up their game. Even before seeing the Ask.com commercials, I had already heard a buzz through tech-channels that their site had made some great improvements to really challenge The King of Search. And don’t get me started on the smaller companies great offerings (37signals lineup, Scrybe, VirtueDesktops, and many more…)

So be not afraid of Web 2.0, and embrace it. Put down the gradients and the reflections (unless it’s in context), focus on your users and usability, and join some online communities to help bring forth new and better technologies and applications that will ultimately make our lives better!