Sites which I like and visit often:
- Google maps, docs and gmail
Using gmail, maps and docs is extremely efficient for me and I have been using it since 2004. I like many features of the sites for instance:Gmail's conversation style message handling, chat integration, Maps street view is really useful and I use maps for all my navigation, phone/address look up needs and finally docs, I keep all my course documents and notes on google docs for easy access anywhere I am. Google docs seems to be like a good architectural Web 2.0 site; I think of it as a desktop application especially when I can use a menu bar. Yahoo provides similar services but their interface appears to be convoluted. Google services, in my mind, are so rich and clear at the same time; to the point. Yahoo feels like a drag to keep updating pages, moving from page to page to accomplish similar tasks as compared to google; I can carry on a chat without leaving gmail. I use google products everyday and will continue to, I can't wait for Google Wave to go live (Extreme Web 2.0).
- Amazon
Facebook is a really good example of web 2.0. I have been using it for three years now and love it. The interface with the UI is simple and easy to use. The pop-up chat, updates from pages I am a fan of or following is great. I can do multiple operations on the same page with; 'like' a post, comment on a post, hide certain updates from certain users etc. Immediate notification if I happen to be logged in with any updates. The MySpace site was unattractive to me. I didn't like it's appearance when I first looked at it back in 07 and haven't been back since.
Good clean fun! To the point, I love it.
- Kayak and American express travel booking sites
There are so many travel booking and search sites nowadays and many of them are confusing. I found the above two to be straight forward and extremely interactive to use. When I am entering airport data an auto assist drop down list appears guessing at which airport I want to put in. The departure and return dates input fields interface is surprising an annoying field to select from a drop down list, the sites which I listed above show a small little calendar as soon as I tab over or click on the input box. A really cool feature of these sites is the filtering option panel which appears on the left of the screen as a panel; time selections, price, dates etc. appear as options to filter the results even more. A sliding filter is also presented on the Amex travel site to filter ratings of hotels and price ranges; and it's done while I am sliding the bar and doesn't require a whole page refresh. Refreshing :)
- WebEx
- DELL
Sites which I dislike but can't stop visiting due to subject matter:
- CNN
As soon as I type CNN.com it takes a second or two to load up and then the ever annoying pop-up appears or tries to appear. The news site is well planned. I like visiting CNN few times a day to catch up on the news, I would like to make it my home page, but its load time and pop-up keeps me away from implementing that thought.
Extremely non web 2.0. Every link on each page leads to another page. I love browsing through photos of around the world, but, I have to do it several pages at a time. The site is static and lacking any dynamic interaction. But, I love it so I will put up with any lags or clicks :)
Sites which I don't like so I don't visit often or at all:
- My company's employee Internet site ;)
Perhaps it's just the fact that it's work related that I don't like my company's employee site ;) But, it's pretty lethargic. Pages take a while to load, searching the site is slow. Things are not upfront, it take a while to get where you want to be.
- MySpace
MySpace site was unattractive to me. I didn't like it's appearance when I first looked at it back in 07 and haven't been back since.
- Hotmail web email client
I don't like using hotmail web client. Everything is pages away. Their process for adding contacts is tedious. I stopped using it a long while ago and switched to gmail.
