Since Web2.0 has been the new namedropping combo that made raising millions for selling available brain time a walk in the park, I've been trying to look out for what was not visible and practically making it possible. Beyond the obvious names that make their way to the headlines and get to be mentioned in the press as inspiring, mindblowing, groundbreaking (you name whatever superlative best suits you), I came to realize that there are some silent players that would rather spend time achieving, breaking new barriers in a quite yet very silent way.

The interesting thing about genius minds is that they don't do press releases. They let their achievements speak instead of their ego. For that they deserve street credit. Presumably way more than techie trolls between grease monkeys at the coffe maker in your average Web2.0 systems/dev/network engineering teams.

I've very often dreamed I was responsible for strategic acquisitions in an infinite cash giant company. Who hasn't. Starting from there, I wondered which where the companies I would like to purchase, that were silent but massive symbols of what makes web2.0 possible. For technically illiterate people, Web2.0 is just AJAX. It now goes far away beyond that. Web sites are no more. There are web applications, web platforms. A software interconnect mapping web's applications together through APIs, some sort of social and logical layer mapped over the internet.

As any concept of this magnitude, it all relies on technical bits and pieces. Here's my own private shopping list of companies and products which I think brought major products and concepts that truly symbolizes the essence of web2.0.

I must reckon that when I compare the very little profesional achievements I've had so far to what some of the brands and products listed below actually deliver, it surely makes me comfortable to see that the complex technical stuff is taken care of. All I'm saying here to the CTOs around the world is that you never spend enough time to try and see the hidden part of the iceberg if you don't deliberately try to raise above your daily technical issues. Please read the below, you might not agree with my side of the story, but at least it could be refreshing.

Oh and before I start, I just want to make it clear that I have no shares in any of the below listed Companies. Neither do I absolutely want to work for any of the below companies. I just found it could be interesting to share my view on a few selected names that I think lead the whole Internet 2.0 industry, directly or indirectly. Enjoy!