With the recent hype and noise from the web 3.0 quarters, you might just think this is yet another “What is Web 3.0?” .To dive into our understanding of Web 3.0. We need to get a brief on the evolution of the web from its very first version; Web 1, Web 2, and finally Web 3.To understand the future, best we take a quick trip through time. Let’s create a bridge from the past to the present and trail a road to the future. This is different, this is a journey, one focused on demystifying concepts, clearing doubts, and boosting your confidence to understand what the noise has been about.Getting down to the preliminary, web 3.0 is simply the era of the internet where users have control over their data, where blockchain and decentralisation sit at the helm of data collation and the key to those data resides with the users of the web.Consider this pictorial illustration that represents the core features of web 3.0:Now let’s look at Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 in brief, before we understand how Web 3.0 will be different.The World Wide Web was designed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. The internet was highly specialized at the time, mainly used by researchers and scientists. As browsers developed, the World Wide Web became more accessible to the general public. And thus Web 1.0 was born. Web 1.0 was the first version of the World Wide Web from the mid-1990s to 2004. At that time, the web was mostly static. Many of the websites had static web pages that provided information. Most users didn’t create any content and there were some users who created personal web pages, but they couldn’t leave comments for other readers. The functionalities were limited. Additionally, all data was stored in the server’s file system, not in a database. Therefore, the web was decentralized. It was powered by a personal computer of Berners Lee. It was accessible by all and it does require a lot of technical expertise to use it. To make the internet accessible and easy to use for everyone, new sites and platforms appeared around the year 2000. These platforms made the internet truly accessible to everyone around the world.A new version of the web called Web 2.0 emerged sometime around 2004–2005. We are still using this iteration of the web to this day.How was Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?Unlike Web 1.0, where information was gained, Web 2.0 is more about exchanging information. The internet became easier to use, more accessible to the common man and supported multiple platforms after smartphones appeared. As websites like Google, Amazon, and Facebook emerged, the internet became more interactive and social. The internet gave people the ability to exchange stories and connect to each other around the world.Also with the development of smartphones and tablets, mobile internet access was available to people. Now the internet was full of user-generated content. Anyone could share information because the internet had become easy. This was possible due to the centralization of data. Earlier, during the time of Web 1.0, the web data was stored on personal server filesystems. Because of the sheer volume of internet users, the data became too large to maintain, so a central database was created. So every post and profile on Facebook was now stored on Facebook’s central server, where it became both more organised and more dynamic. This means that people could easily interact with the web by commenting, sharing, liking, and poking.Additionally, it became more accessible. Be it a desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet, users could access various social media platforms, websites, and apps. The Web 2.0 revolution turned users into creators. Visitors could post videos or make vines. Today there are millions of apps and websites, each vying for dominance.Features of Web 2.0In Web 2.0, users can:Classify and sort informationSend and receive information from different sourcesCreate and share dynamic and responsive content with others.Access content from mobile devices, multimedia consoles, televisions, and moreCreate and develop APIs for interoperability across different software.Quite simply, Web 3.0 is the third version or iteration of the internet. Basically, it is a collection of ideas and principles that make the internet’s data accessible to everyone. Decentralization, transparency, and user utility are driving forces behind the third iteration of the web.To understand web 3.0, let’s look at these core features:DecentralizationThe main feature of web 3.0 is decentralisation. Data will be decentralised unlike now (Web 2.0) where we have our databases and applications hosted on centralised servers. Blockchain and its technologies will see to the new era of the web where data is shared across decentralised servers and there is no central ownership by any authorities. Users’ information, privacy, and security are key here. Users of the web have the ultimate power to do with their data whatever it pleases them to do.Trustless and PermissionlessBlockchain is a fundamental feature of Web 3.0. This technology will enable developers to create open and transparent data stores, which will lead to the dawn of the third generation of the internet. Using blockchain, all data exchanges and transactions are secure and transparent. There will be copies of the data store on each system (PC) in the decentralised network. This means that anyone on the network can access and modify the data. The access to your data does not require authorization from a central party. The data will be free of any obstruction by a single organisation or bias towards users.UbiquityWeb 3.0 will be more connective and ubiquitous. Meaning the web will be everywhere. Smart devices will keep the people constantly connected and accessible to the internet. This is already a possibility with the Internet of Things (IoT) giving us smartwatches and driverless cars. But Web 3.0 aims to connect to everyone across the world without any software or hardware limitations.Semantic WebThe internet of today understands the syntax rules. But in Web 3.0, the internet would understand semantic rules too. This would be possible through advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The semantic web was the original idea of Web 3.0. The ability to understand human languages and process the context, the emotion, the implications, and the slang that makes up a human language is all we expect from Web 3.0 technologies.Features of Web 3.0A stronger foundation for understanding the difference between Web 2 and Web 3 is built by understanding and focusing on the features of Web 3. Here are some crucial highlights about Web 3.0 which would help in differentiating it from Web 2.0.Web 3.0 leverages artificial intelligence for offering correct results at a faster pace alongside accessing real-time insights.Web 3.0 also enables users to capitalize on the potential of 3D visuals and graphics.Another critical feature of Web 3.0 refers to the Semantic Web functionality. The Semantic Web can understand the meaning of words, so content can be easily found, shared, and analyzed by both machines and humans.Web 3.0 protects user identity and data through advanced authorization mechanisms such as encryption and DLTsDelivers a high level of security and privacy.Below is a bird’s eye view of the differences between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.In all, web 3.0 is a huge leap forward as it creates the infrastructure needed for humans and machines to interact, create, find, and share distributed data, make accurate predictions with artificial intelligence, and be empowered to control one’s identity through a web of trust, security, and privacy.Video to understand this comparison better :Any type of comments are welcome. Thank you for your time :)).If you enjoyed reading the article do clap and follow:Twitter: https://twitter.com/i_amsphinxLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pathakabhi24/GitHub: https://github.com/pathakabhi24
