TechCrunch (a.k.a. Michael Arrington) offers up a list of Web 2.0 applications he couldn't live without. It includes most of the usual suspects - FeedBurner, Bloglines, Flickr, Measuremap, Memeorandum, del.icio.us, Technorati and WordPress and Skype. It was a pleasant surprise to see Pandora, which offers a streaming music service (free and subscription-based) that adjusts to your preferences. Arrington is also keen on Omnidrive, which offers secure, hosted storage. My additions to the list include Talk Digger, Blogbeat, Firefox and Pingoat and Qumana. Over the past couple of weeks, I've become a big Blogbeat fan because of its clean, user-friendly interface. Pingoat has become the default ping tool; the new-and-improved Talk Digger offers a good snapshot on how a blog is resonating within the blogosphere; Firefox becomes more and more useful with version 1.5 and the growing list of cool extensions; while Qumana is a great blog publishing tool that has become more interesting with the launch of its Adgenta advertising network.

If I had to offer some pragmatism to temper the enthusiasm about Web 2.0 applications (however you want to define them), it's the lack of business models for many of them other than positioning themselves to be bought by Google, Yahoo, AOL, et al. The ability to develop and distribute Web-based services at minimal cost has encouraged the proliferation of new and cool ideas. The big problem, however, is too many of them have adopted a "build it and they will come" business model based on the idea that you attract a critical mass of users first and then come up with a way to generate enough revenue to build a viable business. Unfortunately, this is a flawed premise because once you offer a service or product for free, it's difficult to get users to pay for it. Far too many Web 2.0 start-ups also seem to be relying on AdSense as the foundation for their businesses. That's fine if you're an enterprising entrepreneur hoping for a few bucks to help pay the mortgage but it's not the revenue stream to build a real business.

Another criticism/suggestion is there needs to be a way to link your favorite Web 2.0 applications together - be they personal or business services. In other words, there must be a way to either seamlessly make work together or have a single place (a Web 2.0 portal?) to easily access them without having to go from one Web site to another. I see this issue as a major point of pain for the Web 2.0 landscape. If 2005 was the year of developing Web 2.0 services, perhaps 2006 will be the year when their usability takes a major step forward. I also expect some major carnage in 2006 as many start-ups disappear after failing to come up with ways to generate revenue and/or attract a buyer. For many entrepreneurs and wanna-be entrepreneurs, 2005 was fun but pretty soon the party will be come to an end and only the independent Web 2.0 businesses left standing will be those with a solid business models.
Update: Reuters has a story on how some of the popular Web 2.0 services are being challenged technically as more people rely on them. The article cites recent service problems at TypePad, del.icio.us, Blogines, Feedster and WordPress.