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New communication behaviours in a Web 2.0 world
5. Beyond Web 2.0 – future evolution of the internet
The next evolutionary step will have two main features: Semantic Web, which means that the
internet will be able to understand the meaning behind data, and strengthening of front-end
user applications, which will allow users to take complete responsibility for Web platform
creation in addition to content creation.
The objective of the so-called Semantic Web is to extract meaning from data
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. It is an extension
of the existing Web in which information is given well-defined meaning, enabling computers and
people to collaborate together more effectively.
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In practice this means that when you request information about, say, Michael Jordan, the Web will
be able to work out whether you are searching for the former NBA star, the Senior Web Developer
at Houghton Mifflin Company, or any other Michael Jordan. And it will not only list Web pages
with information about him but will also offer a short compilation of verified data found.
This evolution will force changes in internet architecture, software applications and hardware
devices and, yet again, in user behaviours and attitudes. Today changes are already emerging in
software application, with RDF and OWL
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replacing formats such as Micro formats or XML.
Hardware devices will have to cope with better internet connectivity and higher transmission
speeds. Internet architecture, meanwhile, will evolve from the current peer-to-peer networks to
become more end-device centric.
A number of recent beta applications are believed to already be carrying some of the next
generation functionalities. Among them is Radar Networks (www.radarnetworks.com), which
proposes a new network that helps you organize, share and discover information around your
interests. Another is Mahalo (www.mahalo.com), described as the world’s first human-powered
search engine, or Ghost (g.ho.st), a virtual desktop application that enables users to work with
their data from every device as if they were using their own computer.
Which brings us to Web 3.0. Or does it? Tim O’Reilly argues that the majority of services
presented as ‘the way to 3.0’ are merely further development and strengthening of the Web 2.0
platform and that we can’t expect the arrival of Web 3.0 any time soon. He
suggests that Web 2.0 was built on the back of the 2001 internet bubble
crash: the strongest ideas with most potential survived and enabled the
structural change of the internet we see today. Web 3.0, he argues, will be
a similar huge change. It won’t just be a natural evolution from Web 2.0 as
many of those currently announcing new 3.0 platforms think; it will change
our understanding of internet reality
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.
The widely accepted opinion about the future evolution of Web 2.0 is
expressed by Business Consultant Stowe Boyd.
“Personally, I feel the vague
lineaments of something beyond Web 2.0, and they involve some fairly radical
steps”
he says.
“Imagine a Web without browsers. Imagine breaking away
completely from the document metaphor, or a true blurring of application and
information. That’s what Web 3.0 will be. But I bet we will call it something else.”
Summary of Contents for Web 2.0 services
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