I don't think I'm the only person to feel like everything is "Something" 2.0 nowadays. So, thank you Jeff, for kicking off the SaaS Camp by defining "SaaS" because at least that term is new enough not to have to be re-born as a "Something" 2.0 - even a Google search on 2.0 gives 5 different prefixes on the first page!

So, why this trend?

You'll find many definitions of "Web 2.0" around the internet - it actually originated from Tim O'Reilly here.  To me, the term means a sprinkling of the latest web technologies (insert geeky terms here as required: AJAX, SOAP, REST etc.) that fundamentally shift the way in which we interact with people, data and services across the internet. But it's the proliferation of the term "2.0" that I believe demonstrates a much bigger belief in the IT industry as a whole that we are in a 'second' coming of, dare I say it, a dot com boom. Only this time, after so many burnt fingers , I think many more fundamental pieces of the success jigsaw are in place, to name a few:

1. Mass adoption of broadband
2. Mass education and awareness of IT, computer literacy and access (i.e. my Father uses a PC now)
3. Internet Services....and not just 'software' or 'applications' remotely accessed have emerged
4. Monetization is now a major focus of VCs...not just cool technology and cool domain names (remember boo.com?!)

So, are you excited by the 2.0 wave or is it just history repeating...a re-hash of old business models with better technology?

(P.S. Search the web for 'social networking' and/or look at the stats on this or this if you're a pessimist ;-) )

If there's a Web 2.0, I wonder then is there also a TV 2.0.  It strikes me that my consumption of television is shifting to more 'consumer driven' and 'on-demand' services.  Tivo and DVRs and on-demand movies (don't ask what that charge on my hotel bill is for) are just a start.  We're all anxiously (not really) waiting for when we can order a product we see on a show with just a couple of clicks.  Maybe then those Smirnoff Ice commercials won't be so irritating.  What about interacting with other viewers like you can with massive multi-player games.  What about choosing our own ending democratically and real-time (like American Idol, but in this case you can have Ross on Friends killed by a falling piano).

All this nonsense to really make the point that perhaps the concept is Media 2.0.  I'm sure that's already coined and over-used as well.  But how long can it be before Google is sourcing my screen-space for ads while I fast-forward on my Tivo?

TV 2.0 - I thought you'd put your finger on a new one then Andrew! Until....thanks to the new Techcrunch UK Blog that launched this week, I saw a company called Mint Digital who not only organised a whole conference on User Generated TV (!) but has also made a white label service for broadcasters and advertisers to leverage the wave of UGC that the internet has enabled, called Bloombox. Wow - May not be long until your scenario becomes real Andrew, check out MTV's first stab at TV 2.0

Whether you scoff at the "web 2.0" nomenclature or not, this is definitely a time of accelerating opportunity for all of the reasons that you mentioned and more.  In addition to your points, I also think that the mass adoption and popularity of user generated content (blogs, pictures, videos, podcasts, and more) has shifted the perspective of people throughout our culture.  The net isn't just a place where people seek out static information, but has now clearly shifted to a place where you connect with other people and enjoy incredibly dynamic content fitting your personal and professional needs.  Once someone has this perspective, adoption of certain types of SaaS offerings that enable person to person connections and user generated content in the workplace (e.g. hosted Exchange, SMBLive, instant messaging, VOIP) becomes a "no brainer".

In terms of contemporary naming, SaaS is really just 'ASP 2.0'. I can't see how Jeff's definition really differs that much from this one for ASP.

As a digital technologies veteren (DTT, DTV, iTV, DAB, web 1.0, ADSL, GPRS, 3G, VoIP, CMS ISV)  I am more inclined to the view of Tim Berners-Lee here and the Gartner Hype Cycle here in the assessment of Web 2.0 .

However, beyond my in-built cynicism born of years of hype exposure I can see the value of the 2.0 wave as an innovation engine. As observed in other postings on this site, many sectors of the IT industry are facing broad commoditisation and massive consolidation as many of the 'digital revolution' technologies and solutions reach maturity and, as Gartner describes it, the 'plateau of productivity'.

We want this to happen as we understand that IT works best when it is standardised, ubiquitous and essentially a utility. At the same time though, we want to explore new and different ways of doing things and challenge conventions and pre-conceived ideas. That, for me, is what Web 2.0 is all about - opportunity spaces beyond commoditisation.

Blogs and wikis, for instance, really start to challenge conventions of word processing as more and more people get used to, and enjoy, creating written content in a simpler, connected and collaborative environment beyond the over-bloated and largely disconnected desktop apps like Word. For example, there are some great new features and more relevant ways of doing things that are emerging in offerings such as ZohoWriter and Writely and other desktop alternatives from the likes of 37signals et al. These types of developments are really starting to expand the ideas of what can be done in a browser based environment, for example, and are providing a superb catalyst for ISV developers who are always looking for better ways to do things.

I write this surrounded by colleagues who hail from emerging economies in India, China and Eastern Europe who can see through the hype but who also understand that smaller development teams can make a big impact with ideas that are more in tune with the ways that SMBs actually work.

Definitely a challenging but exciting time :-)