The future of the internet – Web 3.0?
I seem to have heard this concept in passing (Web 3.0) but I am not exactly sure where I did. Most of my non-geeky friends who now identify me with the Vancouver tech community (something I’m proud of, but most definitely not worthy of the title of geek yet!) have asked me what I understand by Web 2.0 and whether there is such thing as Web 3.0. I’ve answered that I’m not 100% sure, but that I’d ask my friends.
I’ve heard several elements that are supposed to be part of Web 3.0. Unfortunately, I’d lie if I said I do remember exactly who said it but some people have mentioned that perhaps the future of Web 2.0 lies with video (vlogging). Some others have implied that we should look at mobile web 2.0 (e.g. everyone jump on their iPhones or equivalent now). If Web 2.0 was all about dynamic interaction between user and content generator, then maybe Web 3.0 adds a third dimension (mobility).
Obviously, we all go at some point to the Wikipedia page, so the entry for Web 3.0 does mention stuff about mobile web, etc. The question I have now is — what do YOU think or understand by the idea of Web 3.0?
Related posts:
- On privacy, Facebook and the future of our information online
- The Gastown Dialogues on the Future of the Web (Inaugural Session)
- A bunch of geeks at the Future Shop Park Royal opening
- The strange life of a Geek-In-Training
- Reflecting on the future of my blog
Nobody knows yet. At the moment it’s just a bunch of business people and consultants getting together to try and define something. They are never right about this stuff.
The next phase of the web will be created and defined by the developers who innovate and create something new. It has always worked that way, and will continue to – it’s unlikely anyone will be able to predict what it will be until it happens.
Here’s a prediction – it won’t be called web 3.0, and if it is – I’m changing careers.
Andy – I seriously hope you don’t change careers. BuddyPress is too important a project to forget about.
I’ve heard different definitions, that Web 3.0 is either A) the semantic web or B) the mobile web. The only thing certain at this point is that it isn’t actually anything, so anyone using the term is likely just a marketing shill.
I’ve always thought—and hoped—that web3 would be more user-centric. If the first wave was all about companies getting out there, and web2 about websites powered by user content, I think the next step is to let users aggregate these services onto their own personal hub. Blogs are certainly part of it, but they are also part of web2. It doesn’t seem like enough of a shift to qualify for a major revision number, though, but combined with machine-learning, it might happen.
Sramana Mitra has a great series on Web 3.0 posted on her blog.
http://www.sramanamitra.com/articles/web3/
@ Greg – True, pure marketing
@ inaequitas – hopefully yeah, more user-centric
@ Natasha – Um, I saw her website and it’s quite cluttered and not very easy to navigate. Frankly, not very representative of Web 3.0 I would say.
Raul,
I was more so referring to her equation for web 3.0:
(4C + P + VS)
3C = Content, Commerce, Community
4th C = Context
P = Personalization
VS = Vertical Search