Web 3.0: Thinking Machines or Myspace

Lately I've been hearing people throw around the phrase"Web 3.0"in casual conversation; what exactly will the web evolve into? Perhaps a jump in mobile applications, maybe a uniform platform with one main online identity or better yet a popular idea which seems to be looming overheard- machines becoming our virtual assistant- the ability for them to read web pages and aid us in with our online adventures. Plenty of "talk" going around, so allow me to fill you in on some of what I've stumbled upon.

Actually, let me rewind a bit and summarize Web 1.0 & Web 2.0:

Web 1.0 - The 'read only' style of website. Type in your URL, look at the page, read it and move on.

Web 2.0 - Read, Write & Contribute style of websites. Type in your URL, look at the page, read it , provide your thoughts, share it, submit it to communities for open voting/discussion then move on.

Web 3.0 - Perhaps more of a: Read, Write, Contribute and Relate to your own thoughts/searches. Certain amount of A.I. if you will. Your machines will aid you with your queries, planning and more.

Popular thoughts I came across while researching this idea ranged from the most popular web 3.0 catch phrase "Semantic Web" to the "unattainable vision". The concept of a "semantic web" where machines would be able to read webpages just as humans do would most definitely be the web of the future, I imagine tons of tedious, mundane and time consuming planning & research would be cut down to an instant! Your search query may involve a vast amount of sub tasks yet the "machines" would simply take the redundancy out of it and supply you with one end result or so. At the same time there are those who write about it being simply unattainable, but then again that's how most great ideas get started!

Image if Web 3.0 simply jumped into powerhouse system of information; so much so that the web could serve as a virtual assistant, adviser, financial counselor, travel agent all rolled into one search query. That would be a step in the right direction! Power searches- not just read, write and contribute- but execute a plan and evaluate/rate innumerable options.

What if Web 3.0 could:

1. Aid us in planning a vacation- eliminating our need to compare Orbitz, Travelocity or another of site based on travel agents. My query could be "I would like to go on a 4day vacation for $1000 and I am celebrating my anniversary, looking for romance." and out came the ideal trip!


2. Provide the Photosynth idea into the norm, we could virtually tour any given place weather its for vacationing, house hunting or research purposes.


3. Or is 3.0 really just going to be about Myspace? Yes I've heard that Myspace is the big idea behind what the goal of web 3.0. Communicating and influencing your friends/community into developing and promoting the only brand that matters- which would be the brand that is you/your company/your mind.

We'll have to wait and see what is in store for the future of the web, in the mean time lets just come to terms with Web 2.0; seems as if there is a lot of development yet to be done there!

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