Let’s face it the barrier of entry to build a Web app these days is ridiculously low; developer tools are free, there are tons of good script libraries (especially the YUI) and companies like Amazon provide hosting and computing in a pay-per-use model. It seems that any group of kids hacking around is able to simply and cheaply build a website or app and as a result of that there is a huge glut of Web 2.0 apps out there.

So I’ve decided to make a series of lists of Web 2.0 apps that stand out from the rest by the fact that I actually use them. Daily. The first list is of productivity apps, the ones that help me get my work done every day, in alphabetical order:

Box.net
Box.net really does one thing very well, it lets me store and organize my files online. I can access everything no matter where I am and share specific files and folders with other people. Then has a really cool application platform that allows me to use services like Zoho and PicniK to edit my files. This is the future of file storage. 

Social Text
SocialText is a collaboration that provides Wiki’s, enterprise level social networking, a dashboard that provides a personalized interface for people and teams to manage attention and SocialText signals which acts as a Twitter for businesses, letting employees send messages back and forth to subscribers. It’s way more effective than email at group communications, and we absolutely rely on it to keep in touch at AdHocnium.

Prezi
Prezi is not just another online slideshow (there are many of those)  Prezi is a new way of thinking; Prezi allows anyone who can sketch an idea on a napkin to create and perform stunning non-linear presentations with relations, zooming into details, and adjusting to the time left without the need to skip slides. I love Prezi. (Uptime could be better though)

WordPress
WordPress powers the blog you’re reading now and millions of other blogs, it is hands down the best blogging platform out there and it also has the best extensions; their Akismet spam comment blocking service alone saves me every day – without it I would quite simply be overrun with spam. It catches at least 100 spam comments per day and auto-deletes them.

Zoho

Zoho, as well as its competitor Google Docs, aims to replace Microsoft Office, I will admit to still using office but when I’m on the go, or just checking something in Box.net, Zoho is awesome. The feature list is still lacking when compared to the heavy Microsoft version, but it’s free and I can also collaborate with others on documents.

What is your favorite Web 2.0 productivity app?