Yahoo! and Web 2.0

It's clear from using their new homepage that Yahoo! are now taking Web 2.0 very seriously. And I'm not surprised with the competition that Google are throwing their way. Recently John Oxton wrote an article praising Yahoo! for their Yahoo! Tech website, and it's efforts towards making a highly accessible, resolution-sensitive layout. Initially I must admit not liking Yahoo!'s new style much. Both the new homepage and Yahoo! Tech seemed a little to bland for my liking. However, the more I look at it the more I like it. My only confusion is how and why they got it to work with IE6 and not with early versions of Firefox.

Inspirational

Some people think that Web 2.0 is a passing fad and a buzz word. I would agree with the second part. However on a medium such as the www designers only have so much 'canvas' room to work with. It doesn't take a genius to recognize the importance of utilizing space as best we can. Web 2.0 offers us techniques of improving the experience for users, and it would be wrong for us as designer and entrepreneurs to simply ignore it's existence. However with the arise of new techniques always comes skepticism. What companies such as Yahoo! and Google bring to the internet is the sheer financial power to push current web technologies to their limits and show what can be done. In doing so they offer perfect inspirational examples of why we too should be learning these new technologies to follow in their footsteps with our own creative touches.

Dated: 06/06/2006. Filed under: Web Design.


Comments

On 7th June 2006 Elessar said:
Gravatar image
In regards to the new Yahoo! homepage, i like it. Im not really up on this 'Web 2.0' craze but all i know is that im eagerly awaiting faster net connections :) Currently, im on a 5 MB down/376K up connection which is great, but i'd like a faster upload speed if possible for online gaming ;)
On 7th June 2006 P.J. Onori said:
Gravatar image
Web 2.0 is definitely a fad, but there is no doubt that it is making a large and fairly significant change in how the web works. It is both logical and smart of Yahoo! to acknowlegde that and move in that direction.

Nice article!
On 7th June 2006 Oliver Zheng said:
Gravatar image
Compared to Google's homepage, you think Yahoo's homepage is boring? :P
On 7th June 2006 Steve Tucker said:
Gravatar image
@Oliver: Google is minimalist. Yahoo I referred to as being bland, not boring. Subtle difference ;)
On 8th June 2006 Damien said:
Gravatar image
I see this whole Web2.0 craze a really good thing. It will offer a more uniqueness to web sites, and allow them to work like your desktop might, which seems like a plus to me...

I have been experiencing one friggin problem with all kinds of cool new things (Ruby on Rails or LightBox for example)... They don't work with my firewall on, which is just a bunch of bull.
On 8th June 2006 SPAM said:
Gravatar image
........SPAM WAS HERE...........
On 8th June 2006 Elessar said:
Gravatar image
Wow...you gotta get a better spam blocker :P
On 8th June 2006 Steve Tucker said:
Gravatar image
@Damian: I agree Web 2.0 is a good thing, though overhyped. Just a shame it is spoilt by commercialism. Ever dabbled with the XMLHttpObject (ajax)? Im going to write a short article on it soon.

@Ellesar: Tell me about it. I built my own which is running right now. With every spam message I get I add it to the blocked keywords list. Eventually ill stop em all!
On 8th June 2006 Elessar said:
Gravatar image
lol, eventually :) I use WordPress so i have the Akismet plugin activated and it seems to do the trick. And then my live shoutbox is a modified version of Wordspew plugin, (thanks to Pierre)...so far, no spam for me.
On 8th June 2006 SPAM said:
Gravatar image
....MORE BLOODY SPAM WAS HERE......
On 8th June 2006 Rik Lomas said:
Gravatar image
Haha, there goes the spam filter again... Tentacle rape indeed...
On 9th June 2006 Steve Tucker said:
Gravatar image
@Rik: The spam on this site seems to invoke more interest and conversation than the article! I will get my spam blocker working though, sooner or later ;). In the meantime im off for a cry.
Leave your comment...
*
*
* (just to filter the spam)

Journal Archive

Search the archives of this website for design and web-related articles.

Search Archive:

Miscellaneous

Other fluff that doesn't fit within any other category.

XHTML | CSS | 508