Web 3.0 is not a technology, but a set of concepts proposed by both amateurs and experts in an attempt to describe current technology and services on the web, as well as the web’s horizon. This isn’t something to be explained through the course of a blog, but is something to be explored. And the exploration of “what the web is and where it’s going” is a philosophical as well as technical discussion. This blog will explore the technical aspects of the web and its horizon from the philosophical reference of why the hell we humans make and use stuff.
The tin can, or lover's telephone. Why is a blog about the next generation of web technology named after really old technology? Wait, is two tin cans connected by string technology? This is the purpose of the name of this blog. It is meant to incite this question, and challenge our perception of technology.
The first known concept of the telephone is from the experiments of Robert Hooke in the late 1600‘s--the basis of the tin can telephone. It wasn’t until two hundred years later in the late 1800‘s that the first “practical” telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. We present this two-hundred year lapse as a reference point for thinking about the world wide web and related technologies.
While it’s hard for us to imagine people deriving hours of content enjoyment from the tin can phone, we think people a couple hundred years from now will literally equate an iPhone to a tin can phone. Maybe not even that long--there was only a 130-year gap between Alexander Graham Bell’s first patent and the release of the first iPhone in 2007.
What is the current developmental status of the web? Can it be equated to one of Hooke’s early implementations of telephony? Maybe it can be equated to a 1970’s rotary phone, or early touch-tone phone? Even more importantly, wherever the web is at now (now meaning the current as well as perceivable advancements in development) where will it take us in the future, and why? These are the things we’re going to explore in this blog.
To start, here’s the quick down and dirty of the web and its current horizon, web 3.0.
What is the internet? What is the web? Are they the same?
They are not the same.
The internet = a worldwide computer network that connects millions of computing devices.
The web = a service running on the internet that is a collection of interconnected documents and resources.
What’s the deal with web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.? The numbering scheme is a somewhat informal reference to the progression of how usage and creation occurs on the web. There are several concepts that exist pertaining to the distinctions between the so-called iterations of the web, and we will reference the various theories throughout the blog, but to keep things easy for introductory purposes here’s the down and dirty:
(1990~2000) Web 1.0 = Most users consumed content, and did not create much content.
(2000~2010) Web 2.0 = Shifted toward user-generated content, and user-focused interfaces.
(2010~2020) Web 3.0 = Nobody knows what the &!%$.
The thing with web 3.0 is that there are a number of different concepts of it ranging from the convergence of the physical and virtual worlds to the conversion of web pages to semantic data formats. When we say “nobody knows what the &!%$,” we mean it. Everyone is all over the map regarding what exactly 3.0 is, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the industry or users. In future blog posts, we will be discussing the predominant concepts of web 3.0, their related technologies, and what they mean to humans.
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