The world has seen a lot of transition in the capabilities of the internet over the past years, in a marked cycle dubbed Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 respectively. In the first cycle of the World Wide Web evolution, the usage of the internet was outrightly limited, with computer desktops and fewer functionalities for people to take advantage of. Web 2.0 was the beginning of the real versatility the internet threw at us, marking the emergence of social media platforms, e-commerce websites, and the migration of most traditional businesses online.
Besides commodities vendors like Amazon, and eBay leveraging the provisions of Web 2.0, for the first time, we can order taxis from people we do not know through Uber, or Taxify, amongst others. Houses from owners can be rented through Airbnb, and other businesses with more innovative backing were inspired in the Web 2.0 era.
While still enjoying the dividends of Web 2.0, we are beginning to see a gradual shift to a more permissive internet dubbed Web 3.0. Web 3.0 will herald a move to Edge computing, decentralized data networks, and artificial intelligence to build on the innovations of Web 2.0, but with the focus of empowering internet users more.
In their description of this emerging internet infrastructure or cycle, Max Mersch and Richard Muirhead wrote;
“Web 3.0 enables a future where distributed users and machines can interact with data, value, and other counterparties via a substrate of peer-to-peer networks without the need for third parties. The result: a composable human-centric & privacy-preserving computing fabric for the next wave of the web.”
Blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized finance (DeFi) are the first true expression of Web 3.0. Not minding the other technicalities inherent in this space, the underlying fundamental of Web 3.0 is decentralization, and taking control from centralized network service providers to the users.
Beyond cryptocurrencies, Web 3.0 will revolutionize social media, digital advertising, data monetization amongst others.
Web 3.0 will enable us to interact with any individual or machine in the world, without having to pass through fee-charging middlemen. This shift will enable a whole new wave of previously unimaginable businesses and business models: from global co-operatives to decentralized autonomous organizations and self-sovereign data marketplaces.
With this new web technology and its potential, the dream of futuristic inventors like Satoshi Nakomoto to take power from central authorities can finally be achieved. There may be a shift from a business that takes all the profit as seen in Web2.0 with the likes of Facebook coming to the fore, to those who return profits to users, as in the case of Steem, Publish0x amongst others.