Web Startups: Lots of Failures + A Few Successes = Success

I stumbled across this post by Meg at Meish, graphically displaying the recent successes and failures of “Web 2.0” sites - that is, ones that have died (or stopped updating, or whatever), ones that have been purchased by another company, and ones that are still going strong.

Many people either claim that this “Web 2.0″ thing is either dying off quickly or growing fast.  Well, it can’t be both.  Sure, there are lots of failures…your point?  Look at any industry - there are lots of failures, and lots of successes.  It took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries to get the lightbulb right.  But we’re still using the lightbulb today, aren’t we?  And nobody is saying that lightbulbs are dying out (well, a few do - but let’s leave that alone for now).

Remember the immortal words of Ben Franklin (inventor, politician, author, adulterer, etc):

“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”

As one who strongly desires to be involved in this thing we call the internet for years to come, talk that the internet and web apps are dying is a tad depressing.  On the contrary, I think we’ve barely scratched the surface.  Every year, a few new web companies start that introduce ideas we’ve never considered, simplifying life and getting things done like never before.

So what do you think?  Is “Web 2.0″ really dead?