Web 2.0 According to Graham

1 - AJAX
AJAX stans for 'Asynchronous JavaScript + XML'. In an application like Google Maps, its first widely popular use, an 'AJAX engine' is first downloaded, which communicates using Java script with the server. This allows the user to work with the application without having to sit and wait watching an hour-glass while new data is being obtained. A huge amount of new software is being written to take advantage of AJAX, so that web-based applications can now be made to work more like desktop applications. Google bought the startup that developed the'Maps' application, and is actively buying up other microstartups with innovative ideas.

2 - Democracy
Graham feels strongly that when amateurs have access to the right kind of system, the end product can surpass professionals. Wikipedia is a common example - even though it is written by the public, its content is 'good enough', and it is free so that it is widely used. Graham feels a better example is a news site like Reddit or a tech site like Digg - sites that collect form the whole web and filter for quality. The lack of an editor allows newer, more radical (= more interesting) ideas to get through more easily.

3 - Don't Maltreat Users
Graham has advice for anyone designing an application - rules to promulgates in his book "How to Start a Startup" and at his company Y Combinator, a company dedicated to funding very early stage startups. Advice like 'never make users register, unless you are storing something for them', and 'never ask for their email address, unless there is a real reason to', and above all 'never let another company offer a cheaper, easier solution'. He wants you to be generous to users - and to turn a $50 billion industry into a $50 million industry - but you get to keep the $50 million.