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It is lovely
to hear experts, journalists and industry leaders theorize about what Web 3.0
might mean. There is a certain sparkle in their speech; a joyous childlike
imagination emerges as if speaking about flying cars and journeys to outer
space. Until someone really grabs hold of it and uses it as a marketing term,
it will simply symbolize our dreams of the distant or not-so-distant
future.
With that in mind, I would like to surmise that Web 3.0
will eliminate use of a monitor, keyboard, or mouse, and will simply interpret
your thoughts and relay information to you telepathically. Maybe that will be
Web 4.0? Web 3.5?
Others’ responses depend on where they stand. If they’re a
leader of one of today’s big companies, Web 3.0 might be a further extension of their
power, namely collecting more information about consumers and applying their
services to more platforms. To an internet freedom fighter, Web 3.0 might mean the
dawn of a new age of open technologies, diversity of information, and the
downfall of those who seek to control the web. Those who are on the bleeding
edge of web programming might tell you that Web 3.0 will be the Semantic Web, a
step toward real artificially intelligent
applications.
It seems that Web 3.0 will always represent a positive,
optimistic view of the future of the internet. What then, is our word for some
of our darker premonitions? What if openness and innovation are strangled by
attempts to put the internet in the same place as radio and television, two
other mediums that at one time were lauded by futurists as open
platforms?
In all likelihood, Web 3.0 will be defined in
retrospect. Until then, we can hold it in our minds as some mystical formula
that will make all our dreams a reality.
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