Web Applications There is much excitement over "Web applications" these days, essentially Web servers with particular functionalities built into them.

How do I feel about this? Well, right now the discussion is just at a technology level, which means engineers are quibbling about implementation details and know-nothing MBAs spouting hype.

Just to keep some perspective, let's revisit what Web services are: functions distributed over the network in such a way that programs can talk to each other. Is this useful? Sure. You can create all kinds of neat applications with it, but the big wins (for consumers or producers) center around lock-in. If Web services increase openness, interoperability, and ease-of-switching, then innovation (and customers) will win. If Web services just boost lock-in (via Microsoft) then all technology users suffer.