Week 10: The Future of the Internet/ WEB 3.0

WEB 3.0 is upon us ladies and gentlemen, and it has been for a while now. It is described as a new generation of web is more connected, more open where the computer can actually "understand" to a certain extent the data it stores.

Tech people dub this the Intelligent Web or the Semantic Web. I liked both terms but i especially prefer the latter because it suggests that the technology itself can UNDERSTAND the meaning behind the data. Semantic refers to meaning and the first time you hear it you might let it slide over and not think much about it but semantic web suggests that there is a level of recognition, a level of intelligence (that's why it's also called Intelligent Web =D) that exists WITHIN the algorithm of the web that can AUTOMATICALLY derive meaning from the data that it receives. 

Data is essentially made useful within it and it is suggested that in Web 3.0, the data's meaning can be transferred from application to application across various machine systems. The machine will be able to translate complex data to more useful forms for us humans to better interpret as well.

For example, if I were to search the Internet for the word bicycle, perhaps because I wanted to buy a new bicycle, I would not only get results on things related to a bicycle such as parts of a bicycle or advertisements of bicycles or cycling or the history of bicycless, etc. BUT I would receive additional information like cycling routes near my location or bicycle clubs near my location. Yes this information is perhaps available on our regular web but with WEB 3.0 it would be presented faster, more expansively and automatically because the machine would understand how to make the data better and more useful for me.

When I learned about WEB 3.0 in class, I was most impressed by its characteristics of ubiquitous connectivity, network computing, open technologies and open identity. Combined, it suggests that the internet will be so pervasive in our lives (not negative!) that its impact will be everywhere, its access will greatly be increased and its possibilities waaaaaay more expanded on.