Everything is subjected to evolution. Whether it is an animate or inanimate thing, everything is subjected to evolution and technology is no different from other things. What we see today cannot be considered the foremost variety of an object. Tomorrow, we will see a more updated version of anything. So everything is subject to change. Web 3.0 is such an example of the constant evolution of technology.
Web 3.0 is considered to be the third phase in the evolution of the internet. Decentralization, ubiquity, and artificial intelligence are the chief characteristics of Web 3.0. Before we dwell deep into Web 3.0, first we need to shape our understanding of its predecessors which are web 1.0 and web 2.0.
What is called Web 1.0 and Web 2.0?
To shape a clear understanding of web 3.0, we must first know about web 1.0 and web 2.0, the predecessors of Web 3.0. Web 1.0 is the original web that began during the 1990s and in the early 2000s. It is web 2.0, the current version of the internet.
Web 1.0
Web 1.0 was pioneered by Berners Lee in 1990. It was Lee’s three technologies were considered to be the fundamental technologies which became the foundation on which the web is built. It includes the very first webpage editor/browser (WorldWideWeb.app). It was in the era of Web 1.0, the Netscape Navigator ushered. This age was marked by the static web pages that were retrieved from servers. The novel features of Email, and real-time news retrieval were very much welcomed and used by the internet users of that time and age. But the functions like content creation and interactive applications were still in their infancy stages at the time. But at the same time, the popularity and usage of online banking and trading at that tie also boost the usage of these interactive applications.
Web 2.0
A shift in the use of the internet was the thing that marked the coming of Web 2.0. It was a paradigm shift. With the coming of Web 2.0, the bland webpages of Web 1.0 have been completely replaced by it. The interactivity, social connectivity, and user-generated content were the chief characteristics of Web 2.0 which enabled this shift. With Web 2.0, millions of people have access to user-generated content thereby making a big change in the user environment. Recent years have witnessed an explosion of this type of content created by this instant access for people to user-generated content.
Mobile internet access and social networks are the chief characteristics that led to this remarkable growth of Web 2.0. These innovative technologies played their own considerably relevant part in the progress of Web 2.0. The near ubiquity of powerful devices like iPhone mobiles and android devices boosted this process. This subsequently led to the domination of apps that greatly expanded online interactivity and utility. Airbnb, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Reddit are some famous examples of such interactive applications. The progress of these interactive applications led to large market capitalization, which subsequently makes them the pioneers in the sectors of business and technology. Apple, Amazon, Meta and Netflix are a few such examples of big corporations. Among these progressions, there are still some sectors that failed to adapt to this technological advancement. The growth of online applications and their owners possess an existential threat to such companies.
Web 3.0
Web 3.0 marks a new phase in technology and the internet compared to its predecessors. It can be viewed as a big paradigmatic shift from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Web 3.0 is built upon the basis of core principles of decentralization, openness, and greater user utility. Web 3.0 has separated and moved from Berners Lee’s conceptualization of the semantic web. Even though a definition isn’t still available for Web 3.0, its characteristics can be defined;
Decentralization: This tenet of Web 3.0 separate it from its predecessors. Since in Web 3.0, information would be found based on the content, it can be stored in multiple locations simultaneously which makes it decentralized. This could lead to the rupture of massive databases held by technological and corporate giants like Meta, and Google. This will subsequently lead to the transfer of greater control to users.
Openness: Another major characteristic of Web 3.0 is that it allows the participants to interact directly without the involvement of a trusted intermediary party and in it, anyone can participate without authorization from a governing body. This has in turn made Web 3.0 run on Blockchains or other decentralized Peer to Peer networks. The combination of decentralized apps is called dApps.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Computers that can understand information just like humans, are the basis of this characteristic feature. It is facilitated through technologies based upon Semantic Web concepts and natural language processing.
Mainly because of its decentralized characteristic, Web 3.0 lends itself to Blockchain, distributed ledger and decentralized finance. The chief features of web 3.0 proved to be greatly beneficial to the crypto finance sector.
