There is a new buzzword floating around the Internet the last year. Just when
marketers and techies were beginning to get a good feel for the Internet, philosophizing
trend predictors begin to talk about the next trend in Web technology. There
is much controversy about 3.0, with due reason. From all the dissonant voices
there is a general consensus about the definition of 3.0. This new technology
is being termed Web 3.0. Most folks are familiar with Web 2.0, a term coined
in 2004 as a marketing term. To understand Web 3.0 one must understand Web 2.0,
and Web '1.0'.
Web 1.0 is not a definition that was ever used, except as a term to differentiate
Web 2.0. 1.0 would be the initial inception of the World Wide Web. The aim of
the WWW was to make large amounts of information widely available. With that,
it gave rise to the big bad commercial Internet. Remember the dot com mania
of the 1990's? The natural evolution of the Web leads to 2.0. The hallmark of
2.0 is social networking and interactivity. These new trends begat new types
of advertising and marketing, such as viral marketing. 2.0 is typified by such
sites as www.myspace.com and various blog sites. Web 3.0 is much more complex
to explain than these previous stages of Web development.
Many refer to Web 3.0 as the Semantic Web. This would be the first step necessary
to get 3.0 on track and in fact, a subset of 3.0. The Semantic Web is already
a trend being put into play by many top companies. Semantic ties together words
and phrases to other relevant words and phrases. For example if you searched
for "orchid" the Web would know that "plant" or "gardening"
are related words and this too would show up and vice versa. Companies like
www.amazon.com can give you recommendations based on your search criteria. This
is a part of the Semantic Web. Taking this a giant leap forward is the goal
of 3.0, artificial intelligence. AI is not at all like what would be portrayed
in the media and apocalyptic Hollywood movies. It is not sinister. AI just means
the Internet would think more like human beings.
John Markoff (2007) of The New York Times says 3.0 would make the Web "less
of a catalogue and more of a guide" making functions on the web that can
"reason in a human fashion". Ironically, some people already use the
Web as if it was a database versus the social construct that it is presently.
The data will be tied together instead of being an island unto itself. Looking
at the idea of a 3.0 Web is like gazing into a crystal ball at the future, except
that it is a projection based on trends that are taking place now which are
very real. It is hard to believe that the groundwork for 3.0 is actually taking
place now in a major way. This, according to John Borland (2007), is because
it has "been hidden in big companies and research institutes". It
is very much present however and is not going anywhere. Even the US government
is taking stock and beginning to build intelligent technology! This is because
artificial intelligence would take much of the time-consuming work searchers
presently encounter to find what they need.
This technology has huge implications for the future of the Web, as well as
other aspects of our life. Author Pete Morris believes it could include
Microsoft and My Space reinventing the telephone Nokia looking to do Wi-Fi phones Getting paid read your e-mails The government starting to police virtual worlds
Morris also says that in order to achieve 3.0 would mean "the renewal
of the Web's key index - the essential data that is catalogued by search engines".
As for the future, we may even leave our purchasing decisions to our computer!
Heidi Dawley believes that in the future our world will be "seen in three
screens - the mobile, TV, and computer". We currently see ads in terms
of behavioral and demographic marketing but in the future it will be more of
a "predictive model". (Dawley 2007)
Web 3.0 is not without its critics. One of the best arguments out there is
from a recent blog by Len Bullard (2007). He believes 3.0 will not be AI based
but will have to address the problems of 2.0's interactivity. Web 3.0, according
to him, should be a security-based web. This needs to happen regardless on the
back end of the web, but it should not define 3.0, besides the fact 3.0 is already
picking up inertia and cannot be stopped. Web 3.0 is inevitable and will be
an aide to all of humanity that uses modern technology. That is, unless you
live in the bush.
Len Bullard (2007) http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2726190.ece
Heidi Dawley (2007) http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/New_media_23/Coming_at_you_and_real_soon_Web_3_0.asp
John Borland (2007) http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18395/?a=f
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