A few years ago, the favored buzz words were “Web 2.0” and “Web 3.0”. One couldn't venture onto a Yahoo! home page without encountering them in spades. While these terms have largely been superseded by “the Cloud”, the ideas represented by them are still relevant. What's particularly amusing is that the vast majority of the populace never really understood what Web 2.0, Web 3.0 and Web 4.0 even meant. Let's clarify them once and for all.
Web 2.0
In the beginning, back when 56K modems were the norm, the web was primarily a static affair. Users requested web pages, and servers fired them back without a lot of interaction. Web 2.0 changed all that by allowing users to receive personalized responses and interactive, client-side browser effects while surfing. Aside from a distinctive, rounded-corner and glossy button appearance, Web 2.0 is different from its predecessor because it's a “read/write” web that emphasizes interaction and sharing to a far greater degree.
Web 3.0
Today, AJAX applications, social media and cloud storage are found everywhere thanks to the triumph of the Web 2.0 paradigm. Fast on its heels is Web 3.0, which is primarily concerned with semantics. At present, platforms like Google's search engine and its associated web crawlers can index the hell out of web pages, but it can't really categorize content based on meaning. Web 3.0 is about introducing some idea of meaning to the data that comprises the web so that programs like search engines can “understand” the meaning behind pages and queries.
Web 4.0
For the time being, Web 4.0 is more of a vague idea of what the future holds for the Internet rather than a concrete blueprint for where we're headed. One commonly used moniker for Web 4.0 is the “symbiotic web”, which is a vision of an Internet that allows for the interaction of people and programs based on the semantic framework introduced by Web 3.0. While Web 4.0 probably won't result in a real life version of Skynet from the Terminator movies, the birth of some kind of Artificial Intelligence is a real possibility.
The Takeaway
As human beings, the temptation to categorize everything and organize it into convenient schemas for easier understanding is often too great to resist. The truth is that Web 2.0, Web 3.0 and Web 4.0 are at best broad marketing buzzwords that somewhat approximate the actual prevailing zeitgeist and reality. The fascinating thing about the Internet is that it's nearly impossible to predict what will happen next. All we can do is buckle up, enjoy the ride and see where the journey takes us.
Web 2.0
In the beginning, back when 56K modems were the norm, the web was primarily a static affair. Users requested web pages, and servers fired them back without a lot of interaction. Web 2.0 changed all that by allowing users to receive personalized responses and interactive, client-side browser effects while surfing. Aside from a distinctive, rounded-corner and glossy button appearance, Web 2.0 is different from its predecessor because it's a “read/write” web that emphasizes interaction and sharing to a far greater degree.
Web 3.0
Today, AJAX applications, social media and cloud storage are found everywhere thanks to the triumph of the Web 2.0 paradigm. Fast on its heels is Web 3.0, which is primarily concerned with semantics. At present, platforms like Google's search engine and its associated web crawlers can index the hell out of web pages, but it can't really categorize content based on meaning. Web 3.0 is about introducing some idea of meaning to the data that comprises the web so that programs like search engines can “understand” the meaning behind pages and queries.
Web 4.0
For the time being, Web 4.0 is more of a vague idea of what the future holds for the Internet rather than a concrete blueprint for where we're headed. One commonly used moniker for Web 4.0 is the “symbiotic web”, which is a vision of an Internet that allows for the interaction of people and programs based on the semantic framework introduced by Web 3.0. While Web 4.0 probably won't result in a real life version of Skynet from the Terminator movies, the birth of some kind of Artificial Intelligence is a real possibility.
The Takeaway
As human beings, the temptation to categorize everything and organize it into convenient schemas for easier understanding is often too great to resist. The truth is that Web 2.0, Web 3.0 and Web 4.0 are at best broad marketing buzzwords that somewhat approximate the actual prevailing zeitgeist and reality. The fascinating thing about the Internet is that it's nearly impossible to predict what will happen next. All we can do is buckle up, enjoy the ride and see where the journey takes us.
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