Apps on Orkut-Live in India!

I remember the days when as a teenager I had created my VERY OWN email account. I used to accumulate money to go and check mail once a month at the nearby cyber cafe. Not that I expected any mails from anyone, but the whole concept of having an own email id was very thrilling for me at that time. Over the years, emails changed from being standard "How are you doing?" mails to long lost cousins in the distant US, to forwards about the whackiest things in the world from your not so distant schoolmates. Standard emails gave way to mailing lists and groups.

Then Web 2.0 happened and you had applications like Orkut and Blogger where your personal presence on the web grew from an email address to your own profile or blog. You could upload and share videos, photos and so much more. More and more people got hooked to the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

The evolution of Web 2.0 is still underway, as engineers around the world come up with ideas to increase the interactivity and richness of the web experience for the user. Facebook was the first one to come up with Social Apps which turned it into a huge phenomenon over a few months. Google had announced its own OpenSocial initiative a few months back. Today, the seeds sown months back have blossomed into flowery plants, as OpenSocial Apps goes Live in India!

This in my view is a defining moment which will change the way Indians surf the web. Orkut being the No. 1 Social Networking Site in India has created huge prospects for social applications. And what a way to boost its OpenSocial initiative! Though Facebook was catching up, it still had a long way to go to really threaten Orkut's dominance in India. With Orkut concentrating on launching Apps on Orkut in India first and then to the rest of the World, it is clear that the site does not take its No. 1 position in India for granted and is always working on ways to enrich the experience of its users, 10% of which are from India.

There are tremendous possibilities ahead and consumer internet in India is going to go to a whole new level because of this.

What a coincidence that IPL and Apps on Orkut are being launched around the same time! Both will change the way Indians kill their spare time for years to come!!