There have been numerous 2005 “best of” and 2006 “predictions” posts over the last few weeks as the year comes to an end. I’m not going to write one of those. Giving out “best of” awards seems presumptuous to me, given that I’ve been blogging all of six months. And while predictions are fun, they aren’t all that useful in the end.
What I do want to write about as I reminisce about the year ending in a couple of days are the Web 2.0 companies that I love and use every day.
I’ve tested over a thousand products this year, and have written about hundreds. And while some of the companies I write about get very positive reviews, I find that the only true test of the value of a product is its staying power: do I continue to use the product, and maybe even pay for it, as the days and months go by?
So for those of you that are curious, here is a short list of the companies that have held my attention, and that I would not choose to live without on the web:
I have a love/hate relationship with Bloglines, but they’ve recently improved performance dramatically, and I really like that I can see the number of subscribers for each feed. This was the hardest one to include on the list, but at the end of the day I couldn’t leave them off.
Del.icio.us
I use Del.icio.us multiple times every day to store and retrieve bookmarks. I freely admit that there are better solutions out there and I may very well switch to one of them in the near future, but you have to hand it to Del.icio.us for inventing the social bookmark phenomenon.
FeedBurner
I love the statistics Feedburner provides on feed readership and has lots of advanced features that are important to me. And despite what I’ve written in the past, I know and trust the FeedBurner team. I just wish they’d get rid of the advertisement on my feed page. 
Flickr
I enjoy Flickr more and more every day. I like seeing what my friends are up to based on the photos they upload as well as getting comments from others on my pictures. And I am starting to go back and upload old sets of photos from years ago. Flickr is just perfect.
The Measure Map blog analytics tool created by Adaptive Path gives me incredible insight into who is looking at what on TechCrunch. They need to deal with the speed issue for larger blogs though (it takes minutes sometimes to pull up stats, or just breaks).
Memeorandum
Memeorandum is how I keep up on the blogosphere when I don’t have time to read all of my feeds. It has also changed what I blog about, and how. Memeorandum is a cultural phenomenon.
Yeah, there are a lot of Ajax desktops out there, but Netvibes seems to stay ahead of the pack on functionality. The flickr stuff is great. Plus, how can I not love a service that includes TechCrunch as a default feed?
I’ve been waiting for something like this forever. I forsee a day when a service like Omnidrive comes packaged with a new PC, or is offered alongside web email solutions. I’ve only had it for a few days, but I’m smitten. And fair disclosure: there are some awesome competitors out there, too, that I am just starting to look at.
Pandora
I listen to Pandora whenever I write – sometimes for hours a day. I’ve discovered countless new artists from it.
Skype
What can I say? Along with Vonage, Skype keeps my phone bills down to next to nothing, and it is an integral part of my everyday business and personal life. I would trade application sharing for the new video feature in a heartbeat, however.
I use it more than Google. No one has launched anything better, yet. And they’ve made great progress in search speed over the latter half of the year.
Wordpress
I love Wordpress. Actually, let me rephrase that statement: I love Wordpress 1.5. Version 2.0 makes me want to throw my laptop out of the window. But it is an amazing piece of software, and all of my blogs run on it.
Yahoo Maps
I use Yahoo Maps because it allows multi-point driving instructions, something none of the others offer yet. This was incredibly useful when I had to attend three or four holiday parties on the same evening.
Thanks for the mention Mike.
“And fair disclosure: there are some awesome competitors out there, too, that I am just starting to look at.”
I am certain you will still be using Omnidrive in 1,2,5 years time especially with what has been brewing.
Unfortunately, I think Omnidrive is no more
Interesting how no “podcasting” web sites were listed. Also, only Skype is an audio-oriented company.
Why the ommission? Or non-ommission?
Perhaps podcasting hasn’t arrived. Perhaps Mike hasn’t realized podcasting’s potential. Perhaps podcasting isn’t “Web 2.0″.
Either way, 2006 is the year where audio meets Web 2.0.
I try just about everything and the test for me is simple: Am i stilll using the product after a month or two.
I didnt expect to as I initially preferred Start.com (but it and Live.com are so unstable for me), but I love Netvibes – I hope their features keep coming.
I also regularly use Flickr, memeorandum, del.ic.ious, wordpress.
Reason for comment: I have finally found a free calendar I like in Planzo – so truly web_2.0 easy to add entries (click/type)and drag around and a nice notification system. No clue if it is popular or will remain available.
Personally I dont get Bloglines (clearly I am in the minority. I hate any reader where I can’t see whole html articles in a 3rd pane.
happy new year
Great list Mike. For me, I’d add these web apps:
Rojo (unlike Bloglines, Rojo is actually improving and adding new features)
HTML Tidy Online (got to keep my XHTML validation cred up-to-date)
Answers.com (I like using big words, but I often need to look them up
)
statcounter.com (until Measure Map sorts out its performance issues, statcounter will remain my main stats tool).
Gmail (still the best web email app, by far – IMHO).
Thats a nice lil list, some really useful services. Anyone got anymore on par with these?
>
Not sure. I love Netvibes too, but I’ve been watching Pageflakes.com since I read about the site here at TechCrunch. They’re still in what they call “Developer Release” and don’t have full Firefox support yet, but they already have a really nice Address Book which Netvibes doesn’t have.
By the way, both of these sites are from Europe (France and Germany).
hey! nice article!
just got one question: how does signing up to Measuremap work exactly? do I need an invitation by a registred user? if so would you invite me?
greets, moe
you may want to stop excerpting your posts in feedburner, this one makes ZERO sense, the headings are out of order and the section about bloglines is missing.
Wow, this is certainly a great list. I do not agree 100% with you though, but that’s life, isn’t it?
Only one major question: Can you really live WITHOUT gmail? Bloglines over Google Reader, Yahoo! Maps over Google Maps or Netvibes over Google Personalized Page are OK. But there’s is absolutely nothing better than gmail out there (IMO, of course).
Great review anyway. Keep up the good work, and we’ll keep reading. Happy new year!
also, pandora is the web 1.x version of last.fm. top-down advice from ‘experts’ vs. collective wisdom and tagging? i’lll take web 2.0 anyday.
Just in case somebody doesn’t know it, there’s a small up to put pandora in desktop app window: It’s called “Pandora Desktop” and can be found at http://www.faces.com/apwrap/.
Can someone tell me why http://www.pandora.com is any better that http://www.last.fm ? I only ask because everyone raves about Pandora, but as far as I can see last.fm can’t be bettered…
Well, thank you Mike. We’re constantly working on improving Technorati and making it easier to use, more understandable, and more useful.
And we know there’s still a long way to go. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at dsifry AT technorati DOT com or call me on my cell 415 846-0232 if you have any comments or suggestions – I’d love to hear from you…
Dave
Nice list. I know most of the companies but there are a handful for me to check out.
Mike: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ will let you do multipoint mapping using Google Maps. It’s meant for tracking walking distances, but there’s nothing stopping you from doing point-to-point down the road.
I definitely agree with Netvibes (My home page to enter on all four computers that I use throughout the week).
I personally prefer BlinkList over del.icio.us. The interface is such a vast improvement over del.icio.us. All it needs is more traffic.
Nice list! I just wanted to mention one that has become a “can’t live without” service for me, Last.fm. I’ve been using it since before I knew what Web 2.0 was (actually, I don’t think the term had been coined yet). It’s more meaningful than Pandora, I think, because it adds the community aspect to the music discovery aspect, and gives you more options for exploring diverse music. Not to diss Pandora, it’s a nice service and it’s fun to see (hear) what it comes up with. But I think, by way of comparison with Last.fm, it’s harder to branch out from what you know you like (which, I suppose, is not as big an issue if your preferences are limited to a few genres). Also, I think a big part of the Web 2.0 experience isn’t just finding “stuff” (links, blogs, music, photos, etc.), but finding people who share your enthusiams. Last.fm provides that, Pandora doesn’t.
Interesting comment on Pandora – I would agree with the poster that says there is very little about them that is 2.0.
That being said, I love the service. It’s incredibly easy to use, and cranks out some really surprising recommendations. If they can pay experts to dissect every song in the world and still make their business model work, more power to them.
Just a reminder that collective wisdom / tagging is not the ONLY way to deliver a superior service.
Like Will, I don’t see the hype over Bloglines, but thats IMO.
Neither do I get the hype over Pandora. Last.fm has more to offer, and far easier to personalize. With Pandora it is just too much of a gamble to get what I like. Lawrence has a point that “tagging is not the ONLY way to deliver a superior service.” Tagging doesn’t work 100% at Last.fm. Frankly, if it wasn’t for the ads, Yahoo’s launchcast.
As for NetVibes, I love Protopage already… Netvibes is pretty similiar so I can see why it is popular too.
I don’t know if RSS desktop based apps count…… but I couldn’t live without Klipfolio(.com)
Great list. If I had to pick one, Bloglines would be the one I’d have the hardest time living without.
I’d love to see MeasureMap start accepting new accounts again.
I was just wondering, what exactly about WP 2.0 do you hate?
Oh, and by the way, your link to #comments doesn’t work – there is no #comments anchor. Just FYI.
What frustrates you about Wordpress 2.0? There’s some bugs to be sure, but I listed off some of the really nice little touches here: http://cre8d-de...t-wordpress-20/
Best wishes for 2006 from New Zealand.
Nice list, thanks
I looked at Omnidrive, but i’ll have to stick with Strongspace.
And as much as I love Google and Gmail, I am smitten with the new Yahoo Maps (still in beta) but totally awesome.
I also tried Measure Map, but can’t figure what it is giving me that Google Analytics doesn’t.
Thanks again for the great list.
I’m a fan of SearchFox RSS over Bloglines and BlinkList over del.ico.us but I realize I am in the minority here.
Other favorite products or services include Rollyo, Wikipedia, and like Richard – Gmail.
Mike, btw, my trackbacks appear not to be working both on TechCrunch and CrunchNotes. Enjoy New Year’s Eve.
I’d suggest try the powerful internet search browser. Tablane browser. http://www.tablane.com.
Since you like Pandora Mike, and a few others have mentioned it too…
We wrote an application you might like; it allows you to minimise Pandora to the systray:
http://www.faces.com/apwrap/
thx for the post, im liking pandora a lot, hope i get to try measure map soon
Great list. I guess you lean toward MeasureMap as a blogger, but I’d really hate to have to do without Google Analytics and Google maps these days.
I would freak out if http://feeddigest.com shut down. And to be honest, Gizmo Project is as sweet as Skype is PLUS one-click record. Since I’ve switched browsers and not transfered Blummy I’ve been bummin’ and to be honest I wouldn’t want to go without immedi.at
Add in Tagcentral.net for tag search and the del.icio.us look-up bookmarklet and I guess I’d make an entirely different list! Except for Feedburner, I love Feedburner.
Comment on Netvibes: I love its look, feel and function. The only negative is with cookies disabled one sees absolutely nothing beyond “Loading…”
What is a first-time visitor supposed to think? In my case I guessed about cookies, reloaded, and voila. When it first came out I wrote to the devs suggesting AT LEAST a “you must enable cookies” default. No results. Maybe someone with your clout would have better luck.
This seems odd to me. I’m online most of the day, but I’d say there are absolutely NO Web 2.0 (or Web 1.0) companies that I find indispensable.
Niche search is starting to be much better than general search and most mashups are just clever rather than helpful.
I think the internet is indispensable and the sites are now interchangeable.
How about Gmail and Firefox ?
Well, Firefox is not exactly a Web 2.0 company … but this entire thing would be so pathetic without it !!!
I agree with Mike. Wordpress 2.0 sucks. OmniDrive I never got to try though I am on their waiting list. I’d prefer Newsgator to Bloglines.
Thanks for this great list!
The Omnidrive site was exactly what I needed… You always figure you should know better–and then you lose a lot of data…
Happy New Year
Mike
http://verusnova.com/blog
good list. thank you. I dislike being cliched, but i don’t see how gmail didn’t make the list. peace, boss,
I’m just not enamored with gmail. Yahoo mail almost made the cut. And I should have added Firefox – I just forgot.
Dang it! I just upgraded to Wordpress 2.0!
What is it about this version that everyone dislikes?
thanks man, very useful post
My list would be (in that order):
1. Netvibes
2. HipCal
3. del.icio.us
4. Flickr
5. Meebo
FlyInside.com is a new FREE Virtual Tour service.
It is one of the very few vertically targeted Web2.0 applications out there.
They are gaining lots of traction in the real estate industry. Someone needs to take notice in the Tech world and give them some props.
They also have a pretty solid model for making money, unlike many other Web2.0 companies.
Check it out: http://www.FlyInside.com
Really enjoy this site
What’s wrong with Wordpress 2.0? Seem great to me!
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say.
And what about adding Google Maps to this list?
I noticed you are writing about Yahoo! Maps, I have a travel niche-specific site called Boomtrek with maps of Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand which backpackers (and its also useful for business travelers) can use to load up maps, find nearby cafes, restaurants, bars, youth hostels, attractions, motels, hotels, etc. Here are the highlights:
http://www.boom...g=youth+hostels (Auckland hostels/backpackers)
http://www.boom...;keywords=steak (steakhouses nearby the Grand Hotel & Suites in Toronto)
How can you live wihout Litha-Paint? Draw, publish and store your vector images using only a browser without Flash or SVG/VML. http://www.litha-paint.com
I hear that Yoosi.com – a site like Netvibes & Pageflakes is going to Auction in the beginning of August!!!
I love meebo and wordpress. Couldnt do without either. Great post. Thanks.
SmartScoreBoard.com is a new customize sport web site.
It’s one of few Web2.0 sport site out there.
If you are sport fun and like web2.0 style sites, this site is for you!
I’m looking forward to comparing next year’s list with this one, to see which companies drop, which get bought, and which new players grab the limelight, if not the market share. A very useful list, as we’re just launching a new podcast series on PodTech News featuring the players behind the most innovative Web 2.0 companies. Digg’s Kevin Rose will be the first feature. http://www.podtech.net/news