Are we ready for Web 3.0?
In a discussion yesterday with a client, we discussed some bleeding edge concepts around the Internet – they insisted on calling this Web 3.0.
Tim O’Reilly, innovator of the term Web 2.0, has already staked some ground on that term, however. Web 1.0, according to O’Reilly, was the first generation of the web for Internet sites, basic e-commerce, B2C, B2B, etc. It gave rise to several giants including Amazon, EBay, Google and others. Then – the bust… Following that time, O’Reilly sponsored a conference entitled “Web 2.0″ – it was more about the resurgence of Web 1.0, but it quickly took on a whole new term as C2C, social networking and a new slew of technologies (e.g., AJAX) hit the scenes.
So, then, what is Web 3.0? Canonically, Web 3.0 can be thought of as the ‘semantic web.’ In Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, there is data, there are transactions and there are SILOS. Does Facebook know what’s happening on other sites? Does Amazon.com integrate with your iTunes account to provide recommendations? In a Web 3.0 world, that can all be broken down.
I think some of the first foundational pieces of Web 3.0 are showing. Microsoft announced that Facebook and Twitter will be available from within the XBox 360 console. Not integrated, mind you, but a step. And, Facebook’s recent announcement of buying FriendFeed is another good example. On the technology front, things like RDF and cloud computing will become common.
I know I’m excited… But, as the client and a collegue pointed out – what about privacy issues? Oops. The human factor may get in the way.
