Web 1.0, 2.0 and to come, 3.0

Suffice it to say that the early renditions of the Internet should probably be referred to as Web 0.5, but in those earlier days, I'll say 1994-2003, the web was very static. Hyperlinks were fairly dumb links, and there wasn't much interaction. A person would create a webpage, and create links. You then would click around reading and absorbing information. Not much give and take. Back then, everything ran at a much slower pace (remember the newest technological feat was 26, and 56k/s modems), so graphics were more stagnant and there wasn't a whole lot going on. Flash media, didn't exist, and embedding movies into web pages would have gotten you some laughable stares.
Web 1.0 relied heavily on the creation of personal web pages. People would set up a page about themselves, or about a topic that interested them, and have to go through coding it, and designing it with little help. Most Personal Web Pages were pretty elementary in design. Unless you knew HTML, it left you with little to work with. Web pages looked like this:

Not alot of interactivity, links pointed in one direction, and everything was very static

There's not a definite point when web 1.0 left and web 2.0 picked up, but personally, I accredit the transition to the creation and rise of Youtube. Other sites will say otherwise, but Youtube, is in my opinion the turning point that really gave control to the users. You could actually view and comment in real time to video's, embedded right into the page. Soon interactive media such as this began its revolution. Networking really took off as well. A site by the name of Friendster began the social media craze, soon followed by Myspace, flickr, and Facebook. All these sites rely heavily on the features that web 2.0 provides, which is a more participatory web. Running these sites like facebook and youtube on a 56k dialup modem is a chore in itself. So broadband definitely plays a big role in what defines Web 2.0

Such new programming such as Ajax gives live updates to pages without reloading. So when someone on Facebook messages you, you see it update without having to click 'reload'. This may seem small, but it allows you to be live in real time with things happening. Now, many new languages such as Perl, and Python, give users the ability to create and customize private pages with ease, rather than having to learn code such as HTML.

Also web 2.0 has an unprecedented amount of applications that can serve as tools. Things like RSS feeds, that is news reports straight to your desktop, improve upon web sites, giving a more dynamic and personal touch. This is "Service oriented architecture" or SOA, anything that improves and enriches online media.


Some examples of web "2.0ie" sites:


Probably the greatest feat in all of the web, is a site that Paul Otlet (see previous post) would have been proud of. Wikipedia, has become the worlds largest, most concise, and favorable encyclopedia. This user edited tome of world knowledge allows anyone to share, edit and contribute to its information. It is the epitome of Web 2.0, and in reality, it realizes the dream Paul Otlet had. While the information may be questionable, I refer you back to Marshall McCluhan's idea of "The medium is the message".

Some Web 1.0 Sites


As opposed to web 2.0



So that leaves us with Web 3.0? Where is it? When will it arrive? What's it going to look like? Some believe that web 3.0 is a 'cradle to grave' Internet. Meaning we'll always be plugged into the wired world. A sort of "metaverse" that is an open 3d world in which people can move around in that's separate from the reality we live in. While I think this is definitely getting ahead of ourselves, web 3.0 will look and feel different. More customization, more interactivity, and more Google...god damnit more Google...