Looking back, web 1.0 was the beginning of the internet, and web 2.0 was the birth of the online services that we all know and use today, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix. Web 3.0, also known as the decentralised web; is the third version of the Internet that improves on the current Web 2.0 Internet.
Web technology and its utilization have undoubtedly reshaped in recent years, with each evolution bringing new tools and strategies to help users, going well beyond the mainstream of Web 2.0 apps utilized by consumers such as social media, streaming services, and online shopping. These stages have been termed Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 in the media.
This article will look at how the web has evolved, why everyone is talking about web 3.0; what is web 3.0 is; what web 3.0 is used for; what web 3.0 is in crypto, where it’s heading next, and why this is important?
What is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0 refers to the impending third generation of the internet. Websites and applications will be able to process information in a clever human-like manner using technologies such as machine learning (ML), Big Data, decentralized ledger technology (DLT), and so on. Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, coined a name – Semantic Web for Web 3.0 with a vision that it will create a more autonomous, intelligent, and open internet.
In further addition, Web 3.0 will allow data to be networked in a decentralized manner, which would be a significant improvement over our present generation of the internet (Web 2.0), where data is primarily held in centralized repositories.
Web 3.0 does not require “permission,” which implies that central authorities do not get to select who gets to access what services, nor does it require “trust,” which means that virtual transactions between two or more parties do not require an intermediary. Web 3.0 allegedly preserves user privacy better since these firms and intermediaries acquire most data.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is one of the growing components of Web 3.0. It includes carrying out real-world financial transactions on the blockchain without the assistance of banks or the government.
Objective Of Creating Decentralized Web
The aim behind web 3.0 is to make internet searches significantly faster, simpler, and more efficient, allowing even complicated search words to be processed in record time – this all in a decentralized manner.
A user engages with a web 2.0 application’s frontend, which then connects with its backend, which at the end communicates with its database. The complete code is hosted on centralised servers and sent to users via an Internet browser.
Web 3.0 concept does not have centralized databases to hold application information or a centralized webserver to house backend code. Instead, a blockchain allows developers to construct programs atop a decentralized state machine that is maintained by anonymous nodes on the internet.
Data will also be able to communicate with individuals and machines. However, programs must comprehend information theoretically and contextually for this to occur. With this in mind, semantic web and artificial intelligence ( AI ) are the two foundations of Web 3.0.
How Web 3.0 Works?
Web 3.0 architecture is composed mainly of four elements:
Ethereum Blockchain: These are globally accessible state machines supported by a peer-to-peer network of nodes. The state machine can be accessed and written to by anybody on the planet, and it is essentially owned jointly by everyone on the web rather than by any corporation. Users can write to the Ethereum Blockchain, but they can never update anything already there.
Smart Contracts: These are programs that are run on the Ethereum Blockchain. App developers write these in high-level languages like Solidity or Vyper to specify the logic underlying state changes.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): These machines are responsible for carrying out the logic described in smart contracts. They are responsible for processing the state changes on the state machine.
Front End: Like any other application, the front end defines UI logic, and it also communicates with smart contracts, which describe application logic.
Key Characteristics of Web 3.0
The primary distinctions between web 1.0 (users passively browse web pages for knowledge queries and, for the most part, do not engage in content generation) and Web 2.0 are simpler to discern ( users create content and interact with sites and each other through social media, forums, etc.). Instead, the distinctions between Web 3.0 and earlier versions are less evident. The phrase, created in 2006 by The New York Times reporter John Markoff, refers to a new evolution of the web, its third generation, which incorporates unique inventions and habits.
The following are five key characteristics that can assist us in defining Web 3.0:
- Semantic Web
The Semantic Web is the next step in the evolution of the web. The semantic web enhances online technologies to develop, exchange, and link material through search and analysis based on grasping words’ meaning rather than keywords or numbers.
- 3D Graphics
In Web 3.0, three-dimensional design is widely employed in websites and services. 3D graphics are used in various applications, including museum tours, computer games, eCommerce, and geographic settings.
- Trustless
Web 3.0 will be trustless (i.e., participants will be able to engage directly without going via a trusted intermediary) and permissionless, in addition to decentralization and being built on open-source software (meaning that anyone can participate without authorization from a governing body). As a result, Web 3.0 applications will operate on blockchain technology and decentralized peer-to-peer networks.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In Web 3.0, machines will interpret information in the same way that people do; thanks to technologies based on Semantic Web ideas and natural language processing. Machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses data and algorithms to simulate how humans learn, will also be used in Web 3.0.
These skills will enable computers to deliver faster and more relevant results in various sectors such as medication research and novel materials, as opposed to the present focus on targeted advertising.
- Connectivity and Ubiquity
With Web 3.0, information and content are more linked and ubiquitous, accessible through different apps and a rising number of daily objects connected to the web, such as the Internet of Things.
Difference Between Web 1.0, Web 2.0 & Web 3.0
Despite only providing access to restricted information with little to no user involvement; Web 1.0, also known as the Static Web, was the earliest and most dependable internet in the 1990s. Creating user profiles or simply commenting on articles was not familiar to practice.
People had difficulty finding helpful information because there were no algorithms to sift through internet sites in Web 1.0. Described, it was like a one-way street with a short walkway where the content was created by a small group of people and information was primarily sourced from directories.
Because of advancements in web technologies such as Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, and others, the Social Web, or Web 2.0, made the internet considerably more interactive, allowing firms to construct social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, and many more.
This cleared the door for the growth of social networks and user-generated content production, as data can now be transferred and shared across several platforms and apps. Some online inventors, including Jeffrey Zeldman, pioneered the tools in this internet age.
Web 3.0 is harder to describe when compared to Web 2.0. This is primarily because the Web 3.0 era is still in its early stages. Ethereum, Web 3.0’s primary blockchain network, debuted in 2015. Many of the technologies required to make the Web 3.0 experience usable for end-users are still being developed or upgraded in 2019. However, a few essential characteristics are widely recognized in this new internet era.
Web 3.0, for example, seeks to deliver a more user-centred experience in an unmediated read-write web. Thanks to advances in technology, individuals may now govern their data privacy and ownership by default. Web 3.0 also brings the decentralized internet, giving rent-seeking third parties less control over user engagement and value exchanges.
Web 3.0 technologies, in essence, lay the groundwork for peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, payments, services, and markets. Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have had a significant impact on the present evolution of Web 3.0 and the decentralized movement.
How Will Web 3.0 Differ From Today’s Internet?
Artificial intelligence (AI), semantic web, and omnipresent features may all be considered while designing Web 3.0. The rationale for employing AI stems from providing end-users with quicker, more relevant data. A website that uses AI should filter through and present the facts that it believes a specific user would find helpful. Because the results include websites voted on by people, social bookmarking as a search engine can produce better results than Google.
These outcomes, however, may be altered by people. AI might distinguish between accurate and false results, generating effects akin to social bookmarking and social media without negative feedback.
The aim behind the semantic web is to categorize and store information to teach a system what certain data means. In other words, a website should be able to interpret phrases entered into search queries in the same manner that a human would, allowing it to develop and distribute better content. This method will also use AI; the semantic web will educate a computer on the data, and then AI will use the knowledge.
Ubiquitous computing refers to embedded processing in ordinary things that facilitates the intercommunication of devices in a user’s environment. This is expected to be another Web 3.0, and the concept is comparable to the Internet of Things.
Why Does Web 3.0 Matters?
Web 3.0 will allow us to engage with any person or machine in the world without paying a charge to an intermediary. This transformation will open the door to a slew of previously inconceivable firms and business structures. Self-sovereign data marketplaces will be feasible, ranging from global cooperatives to decentralized autonomous organizations. i.e. DAO.
Web 3.0 matters because:
- Societies may become more efficient by disintermediating industries, removing rent-seeking third parties, and directly delivering this value to network users and providers.
- Users have more power and autonomy in decentralized networks. An individual can create their own network and decide how it will function and what users will be able to say. Rather than having content regulated by a business, the founder of a federated social network can define the site’s acceptable behavior.
- Organizations can become more flexible to change due to their new mesh of more adaptable peer-to-peer communication and governance linkages amongst members.
- Humans, businesses, and robots may share more data while maintaining more privacy and security.
- We can essentially eliminate the platform reliance issues we see now, therefore future-proofing entrepreneurial and investment activity.
- Using a proven digital scarcity of data and tokenized digital assets, we may own our data and digital footprints.
- Interaction with our devices helps us reach a new level of intelligence. How? Web 3.0 lets users ask their phone where a nearby shopping complex is and where to go afterward for lunch. It’s our devices that discover more about our preferences and find an answer according to your interests.
Best Web 3.0 Applications Examples
The capacity to absorb enormous amounts of information and transform it into factual knowledge and meaningful actions for users is a frequent necessity for a Web 3.0 application. These applications are still in their early phases, which means they have a lot of space for development and are far from how Web 3.0 applications may work.
Amazon, Apple, and Google are developing and converting items into internet 3.0 apps. Siri and Wolfram Alpha are two instances of Web 3.0 applications.
- Siri
Since its debut in the iPhone 4S model, Apple’s voice-controlled AI assistant has grown more sophisticated and increased its capabilities with time. Siri can fulfil complicated and personalized instructions by combining speech recognition and artificial intelligence.
Siri and other AI assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Samsung’s Bixby, can now comprehend queries.
- Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is a “computational knowledge engine” that, unlike search engines, answers your inquiries directly through computation rather than providing a list of links. To understand it better let’s look at an example –
Check Search results for the keyword “England versus Brazil” on Wolfram Alpha and Google.
As “football” is the most popular search term in recent times and Google is pushing its own youtube content, It returns World Cup matches with video links on SERP even if you don’t include it as a keyword. On the other hand, Alpha would provide you with a comprehensive comparison of the two nations, as you requested. That is the primary distinction between Web 2.0 and 3.0.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, famously known as Meta. It is an online social media platform that anyone can access from devices with good internet connections and personal devices like tablets or smartphones. After all, the social networking part of this social media behemoth will serve as the foundation for how people utilize the internet.
The firm has attracted people across the globe to build new cultures that would help it grow. This is one of the most successful tactics since the invited people generated 300,000 Facebook applications, ranging from surveys and fun activities to digital presents, to increase user engagement on the network.
The startup allows developers to stage their quizzes, product evaluations, and games by making the Facebook API available. As a result, Facebook has ensured its long-term survival and control in the decentralized web.
Epilogue
Web 3.0 is a proposed future internet version based on public blockchains; a record-keeping system best known for enabling Bitcoin transactions. Individuals govern and administrate internet sections rather than people accessing it through services mediated by businesses such as Google, Apple, or Facebook. Decentralized finance (Defi) is the practice of conducting real-world financial transactions on the blockchain without the intervention of banks or the government.