Five Hot Web 2.0 Apps

Every day, some new Web 2.0 app comes out promising a world of new features. But do any of them really work, or are they just flimsy meta-mashups featuring pretty forms and funky graphics? Let's look at five hot web apps that meet a higher standard than hype:

Basecamp
There are hundreds of collaborative project management solutions out there, especially in this Web 2.0 bubble we seem to be in. Basecamp has key differentiators: more than a million users, a simple yet lucrative price structure, and business-ready “people and permissions” across multiple projects. Additionally, premium versions integrate with sister services such as Campfire, a browser-based collaborative chat client.

Included Writeboards are an easy way to keep cut-and-paste “scrapbooks” for collaborative documentation. The site provides email reminders as well as custom RSS feeds (based on permissions). All project milestones are downloadable to your iCal compliant calendar, so get ready to be punished by tasks in almost any calendar tool and on any device you wish. Goodbye Microsoft SharePoint!