What is web 3.0?

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Posted May 31 '08

Everytime you say Web 3.0, a web start up company dies.

The short story is this: Web 3.0 is just another marketing buzzword. However, there's a little more to it than that. In recent times, it's starting to take on some substance. Allow me to give my perspective, which is one of many.

Beyond the buzz, Web 3.0 is simply the next phase of the web. There are many theories about what this could mean, but most agree that Web 3.0 will see the rise of the "semantic web". That is, many technologies will help machines, such as search engines, automatically determine the meaning of content. While this is a powerful idea, I don't think it will completely embody Web 3.0.

I believe Web 3.0 will be a shift in context, and the context is "you."

Google's Conversion University states the following: "Use 'you' and 'your'; avoid 'we' and 'our'". With social networking sites taking over the web, this idea makes intuitive sense, but it's much deeper than that. The truth is, people can only absorb so much content in a day, and our lives are becoming increasingly dense with media. When the web was new, people didn't mind visiting several different websites to view their proprietary content. Web 2.0 brought about some amazing web applications, but many web apps try to do too much, and they end up being overkill. The other problem is that there are too many apps that do the same thing.

To support a shift in context that is more user centric, the content has to move with them into the places where they feel most comfortable, whether that be social networking sites, start pages, or desktops. Right now the best way to do that is through widgets. Most platforms have their own widget implementation, but hopefully this will be standardized in the future so that widgets will be more portable. Google has already taken some great steps in this direction with OpenSocial.

If web apps are to be widgetized, then the apps need to be simple and serve a very specific purpose. There will always be a place for large and robust web applications, like Google Analytics for example, but apps should aspire to do one thing and do it well. If more web apps took this approach, the market space for niche applications would increase, and web users would have finer control over the content they see.

Another thing that will contribute to the next phase of the web is the increase in popularity of rapid application development techniques. With frameworks like Ruby on Rails, developers are able to make web applications fast. I strive to develop many smaller, specialized applications, rather than single, monolithic apps with a bazillion features nobody wants. Because development time is faster on smaller applications, it's easier to iterate on them and practice "kaizen," a Japanese concept meaning "continuous improvement." I'm a true believer in the saying "release early, release often," and I think it's the best way to develop applications. Trying to make web software "perfect" all in one go prevents the application from adapting to its user's needs. This is important, because if nobody uses an app, it doesn't matter how good it is.

There are many more things that I could speculate about in regards to the next phase of the web, but I think the take home point here is the shift in context. So with that said...

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Tiffany said...
So I really tried hard to understand, but you'll have to explain in simple terms what exactly widgets, apps and Web 3.0 are.  This site looks really great, by the way.  

On a different note, I really like "You Can Do Better Than Me," even though it's sad.  I'm not sure what it is, but it's probably the sweet tympanies.  I really admire the continuousness of the album.  I hope you're not mad that I wasted a serious blog's comment on talking about an unrelated subject.  How do I find out if I can buy that domain name?
Toothlesshag said...
Off Topic:

Years ago I was the owner of "Arnoldquotes.com" but since somebody I met on the internet GAVE me the domain, when I stopped talking to said internet stalker, I lost the site.  I thought it was the best idea ever in like 1999.

So you should make Arnoldquotes.com not suck.  Mine had this awesome head that when you clicked on it, the quote balloon popped up and his mouth opened in some silly way.   I meant for it to be a cheesy website - which I thought made it funny.

So make it not suck so much, please.
Nick said...
Thanks for your feedback on ArnoldQuotes.com. It's pretty crazy we had the same idea nearly ten years apart, but for as big as the web is, I guess it's still a small world.

The site is only a week old, and I subscribe to the "release early, release often" philosophy, so if I'm going to fail, I want to fail as fast as possible. The site is intended to have the cheesy feel you described, so I appreciate your suggestions. Others have expressed similar things to me, but not anonymously, so your bluntness is appreciated as well. :)

My original idea did include little floating Arnold heads, similar to what you described. At the time, I was concerned with copyright issues, but my feelings have been influenced by many others. I have many other priorities, but I'll think on this more and hopefully come up with something actionable within the next few weeks.

I wish there was a way for me to notify you of when changes are made, so maybe I need to add an optional email address field to this comment form.

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