Defining the Next Generation of Web

Web 2.0 is over. The next generation is coming.

Nova Spivack (Kurzweil.net) defines Web 3.0 as the era of the Web during which he suggests several major complementary technology trends will reach new levels of maturity simultaneously including:

• Transformation of the Web from a network of separately siloed applications and content repositories to a more seamless and interoperable whole.
• Ubiquitous connectivity, broadband adoption, mobile Internet access and mobile devices;
  network computing, software-as-a-service business models, Web services interoperability, distributed computing, grid computing and cloud computing;
• open technologies, open APIs and protocols, open data formats, open-source software platforms and open data (e.g. Creative Commons, Open Data License);
• open identity, OpenID, open reputation, roaming portable identity and personal data;
  the intelligent web, Semantic Web technologies such as RDF, OWL, SWRL, SPARQL, GRDDL, semantic application platforms, and statement-based datastores;
• distributed databases, the "World Wide Database" (enabled by Semantic Web technologies); and
• intelligent applications, natural language processing.[12], machine learning, machine reasoning, autonomous agents.[13]

Though a very catch-all safe definition, that Web 3.0 is expected to transform from tagging, folksonomy, AJAX, and the like to serious and fundamental changes to how we interact with the net. For example, openID like standards are expected, and will make things simpler. Semantic Web will take shape like OOP did in programming. It can be expected that smaller devices will become in a few years (or months) more powerful and more used than desktops. Licensing and paid software will move towards open source and free models.

Semantic web by itself will change the business models companies like Google have been currently successful at exploiting. In a machine driven world, ads do not fly.

Omni-Functionality delivered over the browser will become the central theme of Web 3.0. One should not have to select and follow rigid applications - where data is stored in multiple siloes. Users will be demanding that the interface do it for them. No one wants to be constrained.

Everyone hates having to read several manuals - and shop in a myriad of shops. The web is the same at the moment. That will and needs to change.