The Web
The Internet and the Web continue to grow in parallel, and common society now thinks of them as one or the same thing. The Web continues to be the most predominant form of usage of the Internet, but other protocols and communication methods continue to be utilised. Governments have attempted to try and restrict the growth of the Internet, and dictate to society about what they can and cannot view with the introduction of filters. However, due to the open nature of the Internet pushed strongly by Tim Berners-Lee and open standards, all these attempts have failed, and will continue to fail.
The Internet has evolved to something that cannot be controlled by any authority, for better or worse. Filters may be able to restrict access to the hypertext transfer protocol, but thinking that they will filter the content distributed via the Internet is naive. The Web and the Internet continue to evolve.
Web 1.0
This was an era when the Web was mostly read-only. In 1996 there were over 45 million global users, and websites were mostly focused on companies and people owning content. The main source of information derived from Britannica Online and directories. This era was predominately run by Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Web 2.0
In 2006, the Web had over 1 billion users worldwide. Society had moved on from the read-only Web onto the read-write Web, and focused on communities and blogging. People wanted to share content, and be their own authors. It was a time when the main source of information derived from Wikipedia. People started communicating with each other using social networks such as Facebook. Web applications formed, and Google became massively popular. This was also the time when web standards started to form, such as XML and RSS.
Web 3.0
This is a time that has not yet started or been defined, but we are rapidly moving towards it. It’ll be a time where the Web is portable and personal, focused entirely on the individual. The Web will consist of life-streams for people. A time where the Web is semantic and people can find exactly what they are looking for, when they are looking for it. The Web will be a completely dynamic environment, changing based on environmental factors, and complimented with widgets and drag and drop mash-ups. The Web will be able to predict user behaviour and interpret context, integrating more into the daily lives of individuals. The Web will be the predominant form of entertainment, and the Web will be the most effective form of advertisement.
It’ll be a time where the focus is on usability, accessibility, and the Web will be designed not just for aesthetics, but to better fit the user’s perspective and workflow.
