For past 24 hours, the web has been abuzz with words about Web 2.0. Jeff has been blogging up a storm, and so has Sean Bonner. So perhaps I would not repeat what they have to say. I will, however give you my impressions of what’s going on, the color and the general atmosphere of this conference. Since morning I have had a chance to catch up with a lot of people I knew through RSS.

Still going through the program list, chats, and all the big thinking stuff, I get a feeling that Web 2.0 is more of a comeback fight for the web 1.0 folks. Its about second chances for folks like Kim Polese, Chris Alden, Joe Kraus, and scores of others are coming our of self imposed hiding, announcing their new projects. Venture capitalists, who had been feeling the ire of the limited partners are back, scouting for their next big deal. Blogging, for some is one way to go. (Bloom anyone?) Others are looking at wireless and VoIP. Still, they are looking. Even yesterday’s villians, Mary Meekers and the posse are back into the sunshine as well. Marc Andressen, the man who hasn’t done a lick for the Mozilla Foundation is chatting about broswer wars. (As Bill O would say, shut up!) After nearly five years of gray skies, you see sun breaking through. Perhaps it was apt, that the fog, that normally envelopes San Francisco lifted today.

The conference has a certain buzz, a sense of optimism. I am not sure, how lasting it can be. The quintessential skeptic in me worries about VoIP being the new dot-con. I fret about single digit growth rates, and I lose sleep over Silicon Valley’s collective ignorance about user experience, wireless and other such esoteric things, that make cracking the consumer code impossible to those on the left coast. (I agree with Nick, small is they way to go!) Still, it is nice to see the smiles on so many faces. Even a crummudgeon like me, can deal with that.