What Does the Word ‘Web’ Mean to You?

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I helped out with an Adobe marketing campaign today and we got into a good discussion. We were looking at taglines for the campaign. Basically they read us a paragraph, then showed us a simple phrase (2-3) words and got our thoughts on it. One of the taglines had the word “Web” in it. Most people with me thought web was too narrow because they associated it with a browser and they felt what we’re doing with things like AIR goes way beyond the “web”.

I totally disagree. I think web has been analogous to browser because that was most people’s main entrance point to the web. But that’s just not the case any more. AIR apps are still web apps. Even Microsoft Office is more tied to the web than it ever has been before with things like Sharepoint integration and collaboration features. I think Web has gone way beyond the browser and become what it was meant to be.

What do you think of when you see the word Web?

[tags]web, browser, rich internet applications[/tags]

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  • http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd John Dowdell

    “World Wide Web” is the realm of hyperlinked text documents. Internet goes beyond that. People confuse the two scopes. More here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web
    http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2007/11/net_web_graph.cfm
    http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2006/09/the_web-enfoldi.cfm

    (AIR does use web protocols, but the net is bigger than the web. I don’t think we should limit all networked applications to just the small part the World Wide Web occupies.)

    jd/adobe

  • http://www.bobjim.com Ryan Campbell

    Although traditionally when you think web you think web browser, but that has definitely changed. To me the web browser is nothing more than a container with back/forward buttons. Its interface is non distracting and not important. What is important is the common set of supported technologies (html/css/js/flash/etc.) that allow my web presence to be easily accessible from anywhere.

    The web to me means: A platform allowing private and shared content to be globally accessible through a variety of interfaces.

  • http://polyGeek.com polyGeek

    “Web” makes me think of connections. Email is a Web app and can be in or out of the browser. Specifically I think the term “web” gives me the impression of software that allows people to communicate over IP. But then FTP is also a “web” app that facilitates communication directly between a person->hardware and indirectly between personperson.

    “Net” gives me the impression of hardward or physical connections.

  • http://mndoci.com Deepak

    Nick Carr had an interesting post on this subject recently, where he talked about the web going beyond the browser

  • http://blog.digitalbackcountry.com Ryan Stewart

    That’s a great post Deepak, thanks a lot.

    @JD, I didn’t ask what the wikipedia definition was ;) . What’s your definition?

    I like those thoughts Ryan and Dan. It’s cool too see perception evolve. Thanks for leaving the comments.

  • Dante

    For 99% of people, the “Web” means opening Internet Explorer and visiting different sites.

    So if you’re thinking about marketing to the masses, don’t confuse people with a geeky definition of the Web, even if it’s entirely correct.

  • http://blogs.msdn.com/msmossyblog Scott Barnes

    I’d have to agree that the Web isn’t the most useful word, especially if you’re looking to underpin AIR’s future benefits.

    The web = legacy and this will be something you face going forward with AIR, and if you’re to associate AIR with the web well you face inheritance issues. You’ve got a new product, new brand and essentially a unique value proposition to offer – why inherit a legacy that really only adds minimal value (other than to help frame the connection in how AIR essentially provides web-app capabilities).

    InterWeb is something I jokingly call the entire internet ecosystem as I once heard it from a brick layer whom though that was what it was called (whom later stated he is proud he’s never used a computer).

    Point is simple, don’t confuse new with old :)

    -
    Scott Barnes
    RIA Evangelist
    Microsoft.

  • http://www.tareeinternet.com Carly

    To me the term “Web” conjures up images of thousands of computers connected together, masses of cables and info streaming all over the world at the speed of light.

    A browser would be one of the last trains of though when mentioning the word. But i guess an upbringing on the Commodore 64 with 300 baud modems which didn’t have a browser may of swayed my ideas of what i see the web as.

  • http://aemes.de Johannes Boyne

    I would also agree that “Web” (for “ordinary people”) isn’t what it is for us! – I see it every day …

    @ Scott Barnes: hehe, I also had the idea, with the word “InterWeb ‘;)

    But back to the topic, from my point of view, Adobe is in a position, to give the word “Internet” a new meaning! Someone has to do that or not?

    Greetings²,
    John

  • Robert

    To me the term “Web” conjures up a cloud like I used to see in my old textbooks. I think the combination of Air and clouds works quite well!

  • jeremy

    To me, “web” means http. I get that from learning about computer networking 15 years ago as a college undergrad. OSI layers and all that. “Net” means IP.

    We should be building applications for the net. Not building applications for http/web.

    It bugs me to no end that people use the word “web” the way it currently gets used.

  • http://www.belowthewind.com Nigel

    The web is what I see when I open the browser. The browser is only important because it facilitates the process of reaching to a web destination.

    On its own, browsers are pretty useless. But because it enables us to use the vast amount of rich web services available out there, it becomes the most useful useless application to users.