Must Read: Sorry, but bringing back the Start menu won't help Windows 8

Topic: Enterprise 2.0

Where are the disruptive start-ups in Web 2.0?

Summary: Umair Haque thinks Web 2.0 economics is causing start-ups to focus more on getting acquired than creating real innovation.

Richard MacManus

By Richard MacManus for Web 2.0 Explorer |

Umair Haque thinks Web 2.0 economics is causing start-ups to focus more on getting acquired than creating real innovation. He wrote:

"What made the Valley cool was it's refusal to think small, and do truly disruptive things. But getting a small change acquisition to essentially extend a Yahoo/Google/etc product line sets incentives for incremental, not disruptive, innovations and models."

The observation is a good one, because of all the current crop of start-ups I can't think of many that have the potential to become the next Google or Yahoo!. Some start-ups are doing technically innovative things - for example Ning's goal is to enable non-developers to create web applications and Flock is attempting to build the next-generation web browser. Both are technically ambitious, however I can't see Ning becoming the next Sun.com or Flock becoming the next Netscape.  

I also don't see many start-ups attempting disruptive things in the non-geek space. I see plenty of events web apps, tons of RSS Aggregators, lots of AJAX-powered office apps. But what about Web 2.0 applications that will tackle things like health, finance, education, government? Healthline is the sort of thing I want to see more of. It's a new medical search engine that promises "The Web's Best Health Information at Your Fingertips". Tony Gentile, HealthLine’s VP Product Management, has more information about Healthline on his blog.

If you know of a big-thinking Web 2.0 application or service that is truly disruptive, please share it in the comments. I'd like to explore this much more.

Topic: Enterprise 2.0

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

5 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Maybe, just maybe

    Web 2.0 is a bust already? Most disruptive technologies BURST on the scene - no one saw them comming. But with Web 2.0, you're already having conferences and discussing standards BEFORE anyone is actually doing anything. If you can't leverage a proprietary solution - for even a short amount of time - then why should someone step into Web 2.0, only to be bested by someone who copies your ideas? Metadata/Semantic web crap will not come into being anytime soon - humans are too lazy to descibe their data - they barely have time to create it in the FIRST place! If you want Web 2.0, how about DELIVERING it FIRST and having the conferences later?
    Roger Ramjet
    Reply Vote

  • what if

    what if u can offer for free a complete website to every netizen?

    just a thought
    scious
    Reply Vote

  • What is disruptive?

    I'm not sure what the premise of disruptive here is. I mean, is it something like mp3tunes.com that uses artist-driven catalog to essentially offer and independent only p2p node or soundpost.com, which creates a whole music licensing process online?

    What about things like del.icio.us, which is somewhat geek oriented, but already seems to be busting out into the mainstream.

    Or hell, what about web logs and how they've changed the way the internet gets used?
    Captaintripps
    Reply Vote

    • Disruptive - meaning to do something NEW

      I'm really talking about 2 things:

      1) a technically disruptive technology that changes the Web - like Google was.

      2) non-geek services built using Web 2.0 technologies. That would be disruptive because we don't have many of those right now and Web 2.0 won't hit the mainstream until we do.
      Web20Explorer
      Reply Vote

  • Disrupting the TV Industry

    Brightbox, Inc. is the rebel TV company.

    We're on a mission to give freedom back to the TV viewer through a convergence set-top-box, unique and exclusive content, TV/Internet/Phone technologies and a viral marketing plan.

    www.myBrightbox.com is the product that started it all. It's got more features than any other box out there for a great price. More importantly we're giving freedom to the viewer.

    Even though TiVo won't let you download movies and TV shows yet, we know they will... but it will be under their rules. Same with Comcast which recently announced more on-demand content coming soon. Again, under their rules.

    Brightbox gives you options to watch video from any website right on your TV. Even if we don't make money from it. And there are currently 3000 Internet TV channels to choose from (We aggregate many of them for the customer in our easy-to-use GUI.)

    We also let you visit any shopping site you want so you can freely shop and watch anything right in your living room and not from your PC. And our DVR service has no fee unlike the cable companies and TiVo.

    Remember the advertisement against Cable TV in the 70s? http://www.tvparty/cp,/video/freetv.ram Well it's happening again. All the big boys want to own everything on the TV. They are scared, too.

    The TV will be the most lucrative real-estate in the world in the next ten years and Brightbox is actually giving much of the revenue to the customer. We are the first consumer electronics company and TV content company to offer our customers an affiliate program for referring subscribers and customers.

    We are rebels, for sure. Our affiliates call themselves Brightboxers. They box the intelligent way... by giving customers freedom.

    Say goodbye to programs like iTunes or cable co.s VOD, where you are given too many restrictions. Say hello to Brightbox -- the rebel TV company.

    Tom Wood
    CEO/President
    Brightbox, Inc.
    www.myBrightbox.com
    brightbox
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close