The Web 2.0… Soon the Web 3.0

When we have web site clients come in, they sometimes ask, “What exactly is the Web 2.0? Do I need to upgrade my site to run it?” Of course, we always get a good chuckle on the inside, because there’s no such thing as a “Web 2.0.” It isn’t a new technology, or a new connection to the internet, or new software either. Instead, it’s just merely a term to describe how technology, that’s been around since the birth of the internet, is used to go online. In this decade, people have coined the current internet as “2.0″ after it got revitalized after the big DOT COM burst in 2000. The internet shifted from a one way medium, such as TV where you sit there and receive information, to a two way medium. Examples of this two way medium include social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook along with sites such as YouTube,  eBay and Flickr. No longer is the internet like a radio station, where you tune in and sit back, not being able to offer your two cents. Everyone now has a voice and can be heard through comments, reviews, feedback and blogs. Everyone on the net is an author and can share their stories, ideas and inventions. And by using templates, such as this Word Press blog, anyone can have their own place on the internet that can be shared with others (thanks to the people behind Net Neutrality. But that’s a whole other post!).

That’s the time we’re living in now, but how about in five years from now? Where will the internet be? What will the new hot thing be? The answer is being foreshadowed by today’s heaviest players.

There’s no denying that Google and Yahoo dominate page views. In fact, according to Alexa, three of the top five most visited websites on the entire World Wide Web are search engines. So what does Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have up their sleeve for innovating the web, once again?

The answer is applications. Taking the internet beyond your web browser. There’s so much more that can be done online than just posting comments, searching for music or buying someone’s used junk. Google has already started heading towards the future of the web with their iGoogle apps. Some of these include Calendar, that allows you to type in events, plans or create a schedule, all right from your web browser. There’s no need to buy software that gives you an everyday planner. And, by simply logging into Google, you can view your calendar from anywhere.

Even your cell phone can run it, along with Google Maps. Not only can a cellphone find your location, give you a map, and tell you directions, but it can now find movie times, food listings, nearby stores and give you directions on how to get there.

Now imagine all of these features, which exists today through various applications, except them being smarter and more efficient. Welcome to the world of artificial intelligence. In the near future, Google’s searches will go beyond just pulling up keywords from their database. Instead, imagine your browser being “intelligent.” It watches what you type in and begins to understand your tastes.

Let’s say you wanted to purchase a new car, and so you started with a search. These days you would need to know exactly the features, name brand or type of vehicle that you want. But instead, let’s say it’s the year 2015. You’ve been using your internet browser for a year now. It knows everything that you like and don’t like. It knows your favorite colors based off of the clothes that you bought on Target. It knows how much money that you have and what type of loan that you can afford based off of a program such as My Virtual Wallet (below). It also knows what type of conditions you live in and how many people will be riding in it by simply figuring out your age and family. A website will take all of this data that was collected in your browser (lets put privacy issues on the side for now) and then figure out the perfect car for you.

This is just one example where artificial intelligence will be able to learn what you’re into, what you look for, and even interpret what you’re trying to say when you search. No longer will you need to take what you’re looking for and try to get it down to keywords. Soon, a web browser will understand what you mean by “I want to purchase a car,” and tailor the results to suit your tastes.

As revolutionary as this may sound, it has already begun to happen. Take the internet site, Pandora, as an example. They build custom radio stations, just for yourself, based off of your musical tastes. So not only are they an internet application (streaming music) but they’re starting to head toward the Web 3.0 way to use the internet:

Pandora still isn’t perfect yet. It’s hit or miss if you like a certain song (you have to give it a thumbs up or down). However, with advancement in technology, search engines such as Google will use the ideology behind Pandora. There will be custom search results based off of your own preferences. So if I were to search for “Buy a Car” at my house, and then went to a friend’s and typed in “Buy a Car,” I would get completely different results.

Overall, the future of the web, or Web 3.0 as some may refer to, will enhance the way we use the net. There will be more web based applications such as Pandora, Calendar, and My Virtual Wallet. In addition, smarter, artificially intelligent powered search engines will assist in finding things on the net that are more tailored to your own tastes. To sum it up, if you were a computer expert and used permissions as a metaphor, the Web 1.0 was Read, the Web 2.0 is Read/Write and the Web 3.0 is going to be Read/Write/Execute.