Back to the Past, and Into the Future
The evolution of the Web
has greatly expanded over the past few decades; that is no life-altering,
mind-blowing statement. What is mind-blowing, and certainly life-altering is how the Web has changed throughout this
time period, surpassing what I thought could even be possible for technology to
accomplish. Although I was too young to witness the beginnings of switching
from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, I can see the significant changes that have developed
since the days of archaic dial up computers and simplistic interface web pages.
For example, if anything takes longer than 5 seconds to load, irritation sets
in, or how about being able to take a tablet with you anywhere in the world and
still access the Internet? We have come leaps and bounds from where we first began
in the field of Web and the Internet.
Starting with Web 1.0, we
were able to present information and services with simple user interfaces, but
had no opportunity to allow people to alter or contribute to the information.
Well that just wouldn’t do, now would it? Which is precisely where Web 2.0 came
in. This new and improved version of the Web offers users the chance to be
interactive with people from all over the world, access thousands of pages of
information in seconds, and upload their work to share with whomever they
please. Now that the Web has been nailed down in a socially interactive aspect,
it is time to focus on new technological advances, which brings me to discuss
Web 3.0. Web 3.0 takes what we already know how to use and amps it up by 100,
creating more intelligent search engines and faster network connections that
give us what we want to know and take us exactly where we want to be in
seconds, with more accuracy and precision than what we have been used to.
I believe Web 2.0 has
surpassed the expectations of what people thought was possible to accomplish
with computer technology. Everyday there are new applications and user experiences
created that enhance the Web’s quality and productivity. Web 2.0 has given
users a way to connect with their friends and family, not just through simply a
wordy email, but actually video chatting with them in real time. In my opinion that is the greatest thing that has come
out of the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, the ability to link together
family and friends across the globe and allow them to see each other
face-to-face.
With Web 3.0 becoming
more developed to serve us faster and make our lives easier, I am afraid there
will be an increase in how addicted to technology human civilization already is.
Web 3.0 has the ability to connect databases in seconds to find information that
much easier and it troubles me to think it may decrease the willingness to
learn, or increasing the dependency to having a computer do all the hard work
for you.
How have we gotten to this point?
Web 1.0 or the “Read Only” web was the beginning of
the information age, according to Flat World Business Blog. Though this version
of the web gave users access to information, there was no active communication
flow from users to those sending out that information. Along with giving access
to data Web 1.0 also began the e-commerce revolution, allowing consumers to
view and buy product online versus in a retailer’s store. According to WittyCookie,
Web 1.0 is the passive version of the web filled with flat data and no outlet
to communicate with users.
Transitioning from that is Web 2.0, or the “Read-Write”
web, where a lack of interaction from Web 1.0 led to. According to Randy
Matusky, owner of randymatusky.com, a blog dedicated to educational technology
and leadership, no actual update or technical modification was done between Web
1.0 and Web 2.0. A writer on Flat World Business Blog stated that 1999 marked
the start of heavier user interactions and the “Read-Write-Publish” era, with
sites like Blogger and LiveJournal. This version of the web is set up so that
even a non-technically savvy individual can navigate and intermingle on the
web. Randy Matusky, in his blog post here, he declares Web 2.0 is the “architecture of participation” because the user has
some power and control over the data being distributed. Web 2.0 empowered the
population through blogging, social media, and video streaming.
Lastly, the Web is transitioning into its latest
phase, Web 3.0 or the “Read-Write-Execute” web version. Flat World Business
blog, in their post here,
it is stated that Web 3.0 is made up of two things; semantic markup and web
services. First, semantic makeup is the communication gap that exists between
web users and computer applications, which will be remedied through formatting
data to be understood by software. Second, we service is a system designed to
support computer to computer interaction over the Internet. Flat World Blog
states that both semantic markup and web service will have the potential to
have applications connect directly with each other, with broader search
engines, and easier interfaces. The problem with 2.0, according to Randy
Matusky, is that Web 2.0 results in information overload. It is unable to tell
whether context is relevant or not, the search just generates all relevant
data, which is precisely what Web 3.0 aims to change. Matusky says it well when
he writes in his blog post, “Web 1.0 and 2.0 the Internet is trapped within the
physical walls of computers, bur with hands-free devices such as tablets and cellphones,
it will become an omnipresent force.”
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