Did Cisco buy another Web 2.0 firm?

Cisco is rumored to have acquired defunct Click.tv to bolser its Web 2.0 plans, according to Michael Arrington, writing in TechCrunch. Arrington has been following Click.tv since its launch in 2006 and its closure last month.

In his latest post, Arrington writes:

Was it Cisco? Maybe. They’ve been making some interesting plays in the web space, with acquisitions of Five Across, Tribe and WebEx. Five Across and Tribe are both in the social networking space. I’m not sure how Click.tv would fit into those plans. So for now I’m going to label this as possible but not more. I’m digging for additional sources.

One TechCrunch reader believes that such an acquisition would help Cisco put something more concrete around its fledgling Web 2.0 message:

Cisco have been promoting the Human Network concept for some time. In Europe at least, Cisco are having a bit of trouble contextualising this for sales guys on the ground. Put yourself in their shoes - so you’re in with your favourite client and you open up with “Seen our Human Network concepts - its all about second generation web techonology enabling greater interact than ever before….ummm….want to buy some bigger switches” If they have bought Click TV they are amassing an application set around the consumer that they will be reworking into business applications. Why not - its the natural extension of their core offering, if they just get the context right.

But I was intrigued by this comment from another reader:

Cisco has the power to become ‘cool’ through acquisitions alone.

Is a company cool by simply buying a cool company, or cool because developed something cool (think Apple).

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• VoIP / Convergence
• Cisco
• Click.tv
• Web 2.0