| Web 3.0 - What's Next? |
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| Written by the Cyberspace Pursuit Team | ||||||||||
Now that we've begun to understand the implications of web 1.0 and 2.0, the question is: what's next? Well, since webmasters and programmers can hardly agree on what Web 1.0 was and Web 2.0 is, Web 3.0 is almost impossible to predict. Nevertheless, we have narrowed down the list to a few, different but interconnected ideas that we believe are most likely to take hold, the basis of which stands on a totally new generation of computing- the Semantic Web. Many experts believe that "Web 3.0" will bring innovation, not to design and style like "Web 2.0", but to the behind-the-scenes technology that drives it.
The Semantic WebThe Semantic Web could be defined as a web governed by machines, maintained by machines, and even contributed to by machines- a web that understands itself. A Semantic Web would not only be able to reassemble bits of content on-the-fly for custom tailored webpages (like "Web 2.0"), but it could do so intelligently. This would improve search results and page relevancy, making the now mainly-human job of sorting through search results obsolete. Today's webpages are created by people for people, which in itself provides an obstacle to this "Conscious Web". How can machines truly understand web content if it is only written for human eyes? As the Semantic Web is a prospective topic, its mechanisms are even more so. Following are two views that split our team.
New Web StandardsNew Web StandardsOne of the most dominant ideas of the Semantic Web, requires the use of newer web standards and markupWhen content is added to a web page, its designer must first "mark it up" using a mark-up language such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This constitutes placing bits of information into "tags". Tags are pieces of code which surround content and provide browsers with information about that content. . Most current web markup standards only tell browsers how to display information; they tell browsers little to nothing about the content itself. (More)The most used markup language in the world, HTML, is limiting in its inability to categorize content. HTML only separates content into standard tags which usually have little relevance to the content (e.g. list-item, bold, and blockquotes). HTML does, however, have a few ways around this. The "meta" tag is designed specifically to declare content-type and other metadata (information about content like creation date, tags, and author). Tags can also have attributes known as "classes"- groups in which tags can be placed that, technically, should only define the display of tags they contain. This system has been adapted in some cases to define a tag's content type by changing the classes name to a relevant keyword. However, some newer languages such as RDFResource Description Framework Criticism: This method does, however, have its drawbacks. Mainly, the transfer over to such systems would require much more work than many webmasters are willing to give, and, as the web contains well over 1 trillion pages, the amount of work required to do this by hand is inconceivable. Artificial IntelligenceImproved Artificial IntelligenceAnother mainstream idea is the future development of more advanced- if not true- artificial intelligence.This would cut out all of the work required to transfer webpages over to new system and make the web much more intuitive and easier with which to work. Criticism: This idea has drawn on a very large amount of criticism. Firstly, we don't have the kind of technology required to create true artificial intelligence; our closest attempts to date consist mainly of intelligence faking. Secondly, the morals behind such a system must be worked out, both politically and socially (as Hollywood loves to remind use nearly once a year). From the Man HimselfFrom the Man HimselfBelow is a quite well-known quote from Tim Berners-Lee I have a dream for the Web [in which computers] become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web – the content, links, and transactions between people and computers. A ‘Semantic Web’, which should make this possible, has yet to emerge, but when it does, the day-to-day mechanisms of trade, bureaucracy and our daily lives will be handled by machines talking to machines. The ‘intelligent agents’ people have touted for ages will finally materialize.
Cloud ComputingCloud Computing is a very general term used to refer to a system of web deployment which has recently gained traction among web developers. This system, which is already used by many large web entities and applications (including AHSTSA.org), dynamically scalableMost cloud computing applications include support for scaling, or resizing resources, of web deployments. This way, once a site begins to become popular, it is very easy for its administrator to upgrade serving resources, say, host the website on a dedicated server. and usually virtualized resourcesIt is common practice within the web hosting niche to virtualize resources. This encompasses using very high-processing power, high memory servers to create virtual hardware. This is much more practical for scalability, as "servers" can quickly be resized and resources redistributed. are provided as a service over the Internet. Instead of websites and businesses relying on self-maintained servers to deliver content, groups can simply upload web content and applications to adapting systems of connected servers. Many cloud computing architectures dynamically distribute web content across a large, flexible network, often described as- and therefore named- a cloud, that can be maintained either commercially or fundamentally user-driven.This brings the web closer to its original intention- not only can the cloud route information through multiple paths, but it can also deliver it from multiple points, thus increasing overall speed and efficiency. Some believe cloud computing is just another marketing term for old ideas, but some point to some fundamental differences. Essentially, "cloud computing" is still a part of the system used by web hosting companies for years, but the new, broader terminology also conveys further innovation.
CommercialCommercialCloud computing, from a commercial standpoint, can take a variety of forms. It is a way for web developers to focus more on their work as developers instead of administrators; through cloud computing, developers need not worry about all the hardware that was once required to create a website or web application. Commercial cloud hosting clients only pay for storage space and bandwidth used, cutting out large startup costs and allowing low-capital competition and innovation. Cloud hosting also removes many hardware limitations from web deployment. When large amounts of bandwidth are needed, they can be easily obtained from the cloud; when little to no bandwidth is needed, it can be used by other web deployments instead of leaving large systems idle. This way, commercial cloud hosting environments can achieve maximum efficiency. You may be familiar with some popular cloud computing providers; Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Zoho, Yahoo, and Microsoft are all big names in "cloud computing" and frequently use the term in marketing. Marc Benioff, CEO of salesforce.com, favors this approach to web 3.0:
User-DrivenUser-DrivenIt is likely that you are familiar with user-driven cloud computing networks such as BitTorrent and Skype. These peer-to-peer networks dynamically use the bandwidth of their users to improve the networks. This idea is more accepted as the "3.0" part of cloud computing. For example, when downloading a torrent, your computer is both downloading pieces of a file and re-serving it to other computers. This assures that needed bandwidth is always available through the "cloud". While peer-to-peer file sharing may have recieved some negative publicity from illegal pirating, peer-to-peer represents an enormous leap in how we think about distributing content. While it is currently in use and considered by some to be "Web 2.0", it still has much room for improvement. New Ideas from AHSTSAMore Speculation from AHSTSA: It is the belief of the AHSTSA Cyberspace Pursuit Team that, some time in the future, all web content could be distributed in a peer-to-peer fashion, nearly eliminating the need for large server farmsAt the present time, most web content is distributed from stationary sources, usually large buildings filled with racks and rows of servers that must be maintained by teams of hardware and software specialists. altogether. The number and types of devices connected to the World Wide Web increase dramatically every day. If this trend is to continue and web data is distributed in the same way as the present time, hosting companies will be required to continue adding more and more racks, walls, and warehouses of servers, but if the internet revolutionizes to this newer, user-driven model, the number of "servers" will always be equal to the number of clients. We believe cloud computing, or at least its non-commercial, user-driven portion, is another piece of Web 3.0. the Read/Write/Execute WebYou may have heard "Web 3.0" called the Read/Write/Execute Web. Why this? This terminology is used to define a web that can not only be read, but written; not only written, but developed and executed. In keeping with older terminology derived from digital file permissions: "Web 1.0" was the Read Only Web, "Web 2.0" is the Read/Write Web, then "Web 3.0" must be the Read/Write/Execute Web. So what makes this web different from the rest? In the Internet of the future, we believe that the web will not only be read and written by you, but the applications themselves will be assembled by you. Using Advanced programming APIsApplication Programming Interfaces are libraries of code that provide advanced functionality in a language. These interfaces allow programmers to concentrate more on functionality than low-level "housekeeping" coding and the like., feeds and other advanced data sources, and innovative deployment technologies such as cloud computing (as previously mentioned), you may soon be "mashing-up" data in widgets and web applications that you can create during lunch break. Mashups Mashups are widgets and web applications that are developed by the end-user. Imagine logging into an online service which provides a drag-and-drop programming interface for the creation of smart applications. Well, with programs like IBM Mashup Center, Google App Engine, JackBe, Microsoft Popfly, Mozilla Ubiquity, and Yahoo! Pipes, that is quickly becoming possible. We believe that in the web of the future, you will open up your web browser to an array of self-created widgets and applications that do anything you can imagine, and best of all- you can share it with your friends. Writing a research paper? With the dawn of the Semantic Web, it may be easier to write a program to do your research for you. If you thought Wikipedia was incredible for only public, copyright-free contribution, wait until you see the creative spark of the community unleashed.
Web 3DAnother popular prediction for web 3.0 is the transition to a 3-dimensional web- sound familiar? While Hollywood does a great job of making people wary of a web with depth (remember the Matrix?), this idea may not be as far-fetched as one might think. A Separate WorldA Separate WorldThere are applications popping up all over the grid that claim they are the future of the Internet. While we do not foresee these applications as the final destination of "web 3.0", we believe these applications represent a needed bridge- a transition- to a future three-dimensional web. Applications like Second Life, Active Worlds, and Kaneva allow users to sign-up and create avatarsAvatars are online identities, usually either a picture or 3D model, that represent a person in digital form. In this instance, avatars are the 3D human models that players can move around the virtual world. to represent themselves within the virtual world. From there, users are usually able to create their own "living spaces" and interact with other users. These programs all have different, distinguishing features, but essentially they remain the same. ExitReality is one application that we believe comes closer to the future of the web and deserves special mention. ExitReality is an application that transforms 2D webpages into 3D rooms via browser plug-ins, building on the current web instead of apart from it. Critisism: These applications are great in an innovative sense, but they remain limited for several reasons. First and foremost, these applications are proprietary- they are created by a single company and, while users may be able to add to their virtual worlds, they could never represent a new internet for lack of interoperability. The purpose of the internet is to make information instantly available around the world; these applications partition the internet into separate pieces, making it harder for people to find the information they need. Therefore, if they were to become mainstream, they could never replace our plain, old-school, 2D web browsers. Web++Web++While we do acknowledge the potential power of 3D worlds in the World Wide Web, we believe they will only provide a transition to a new web which we like to call Web++. Currently, several three-dimensional markup languages exist, mainly:
These formats are unique from more well-known 3D solutions, like Adobe Shockwave, Unity, and 3DzzD, in that they do not require a commercially created plug-into view in a web browser. This is the key to universal support. If web browsers natively support these formats like it does with HTML and the like, they will soon become web development hot spots. New design concepts and practices will become mainstream, and the uses of the web may change- or rather, be added to- dramatically. Once these markup languages become supported by a large portion of web users, we believe it will only be a matter of time before we will be able to use the web as a separate space for life. Technology is developing at an exponential rate, and as soon as new technologies develop, entrepreneurs find new ways to employ them. While we are sure that the web will never develop to the point that people could be injured or killed by faulty programs alone (hehem, Hollywood), you may eventually be plugging in your own body. For now, expect quite a wait for this new web to take hold (especially for certain companiesMicrosoft seems to be putting up a struggle with these publicly licensed markup languages for fear of losing revenue. As much as it pains us as developers, as long as Internet Explorer remains a dominant player in the internet industry (Go Firefox!), these languages will remain to have a very small audience. ), but in the future, many web pages might just be in 3D. Criticism: The AHSTSA Cyberspace Pursuit team supports these new conventions all the way. Open IDOpenIDOpen Identification is an emerging standard for user identification across the web. With open identification, you will only need to maintain a single identity across the net. While you mayWe say "may" because it is highly likely that your selected "Identity Provider" can secure your personal information and password as well- if not better than- your bank. prefer to keep your bank account under a separate password, this will make life much easier for the large number of people who are currently registered for dozens of small websites. The video below, created by Vidoop.com, gives a great overview of the technology. OpenID is a system of identification that simplifies registration and login by allowing you to use the same digital identity with any website or application that supports the standard. Here's how it works:
The Internet - EverywhereWith the beginnings of "smart objects" already taking hold, we believe that the future of the web lies in everyday objects. At the moment, very few devices are connected to the web (computers, smart phones, the occasional GPS, etc.), but imagine, on your way home in the near future, with your all-in-one personal computing device connected to your governments public wireless internet access, you log-in to your kitchen's online interface and have your kitchen prepare dinner. Like to cook? It could assure that you have all the ingredients and pre-heat the oven. Our smart devices, cars, and houses will be connected to a smart internet. What if you never had to find a stray toy again? Your house could find it for you. Has your favorite watch been stolen? It could find its way back to authorities or you- all by itself. Everyday objects, from teddy bears to toasters, will somehow be connected to the internet, posting live updates and allowing for simple remote access.
Closing StatementsWe believe the future of the web will materialize from a composition of these concepts. From mashups to OpenID, you can expect "Web 3.0" to drop in with a bang.
Thank you for your time, and we hope you enjoyed visiting "Web 3.0" from AHSTSA's perspective.  |
