What’s Next After Web 2.0?

Kia ora Derek.

I listened to Jeffrey Cole‘s keynote at this year’s NetSafe Conference in Queenstown. He had a few things to say about Web3.0. One was that he didn’t think it was as far a away as others thought it would be. He was cagey about exactly what it might deliver, but felt that being genuinely ‘free’, in many different senses, was likely.

Whatever it is like, I feel strongly that it will not be what we expect. Who of us who thought of the future, way back in 1992 or there about, would have guessed that a pocket device about the size of a long thin matchbox could access the world network and permit anyone to phone anyone anywhere in the world, while sending live video footage as they spoke. If I had sat in your class in those days and suggested that this is what we should expect in 2008, I would have been laughed out of the class, and you might have watched and shook your head.

Ka kite
from Middle-earth

I’m really interested in the impact of technological advance. We now know that Web 1 wasn’t that radical beacuse it used the existing structure of consumers and producers. It was society communicating via a new medium – but with the same structures. The shift to web 2 saw consumers become producers (social networking, youtube etc). As a result – Web 2 technology had a fundamental impact on society as it changed who produced (and controlled) information. Some people talk about web 3 as if there will be another step on that continuum. For example – I’ve heard it described as web 2 in real time. I don’t think so. That sounds like web 2.5 to me!

Theoretically the next big step for the web is the semantic web. Instead of being many separate parts – the web “combines” to get smarter (a lot smarter). At the moment – we are the link for most of the information we use. As web technologies evolve – they will communicate more with each other and we will need to intervene less to get to our desired end point.

Say for example I run a google search because I want to buy golf clubs. I get the same results that you do if you enter the same search term. Then we each work through the data looking for a local store with the right clubs within our budget etc. What if the search engine factored in my location, brand preferences (and knows I like a bargain), etc. My search return is customised for me – and yours for you. That’s the concept of the Web 3 as I understand it – The technologies interwoven for a more customised user experience.

And it sounds pretty good in my golf club examples – but web 3 could change society again. Does the web serve you – or does it define you? We all evolve based on what we see, hear and experience – but what if the things we see, hear and experience are based on what we already saw, heard, and experienced?

Anyway, those are my thoughts.