What is Web3?
Web 2.0 existed around the late 1990s when the internet was booming. It was then that static web pages evolved into what we know and enjoy today. Mainly stemming from user-generated content, Web 2.0 changed the way we live and do things. But like any other major movements before it, this was bound to evolve and now we are way into Web3 or Web 3.0.
Basically, Web 3.0 is very much a peer-to-peer internet without a sole authority governing it that focuses on access to intelligent and relevant information.
How did the evolution of Web 3.0 change the internet?
Web 1.0 gave the world new ways of doing things. Web 2.0 brought the likes of Facebook, Wikipedia and other dynamic websites to our world before Web 3.0. It is through this that data became more mobile, social communities become more prominent and cloud services became more common. As such, it was almost impossible to envision a world without these platforms prior to this.
Web3 is set to make everyday computing more pervasive and ubiquitous. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web first coined the term Semantic Web which is seen as the predecessor of Web 3.0. This is the future of the internet as we speak.
What are the main features of Web 3.0?
3 main features encapsulate the power of Web 3.0 which are:
- Edge Computing
- Decentralized Data Networks
- Artificial Intelligence
The principles that underline these features where these networks:
- Are built and designed through a community that adopts open-source software made accessible to everyone.
- Allows users to connect through a ‘Trustless’ environment. This means that they are able to communicate without a trusted third party whether publicly or privately.
- Do not have any governing body to provide any form of authorization or permission for users and suppliers to be involved.
What is the infrastructure of Web 3.0 like?
Web 2.0 expounded the use of cloud computing and services globally. Data centers became hugely popular as well as forming the backbone of businesses. Where Web 2.0 channeled processing from personal computers to data centers, Web 3.0 pushes the bar further, where computing resources are no longer supplemented by large legacy data centers but in everyday appliances like computers, mobile phones and vehicles.
Decentralizing data networks and artificial intelligence
Through decentralized data networks, the data economy could emerge. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence, with the inception of machine learning algorithms has become a common service that can power up insightful information for prediction and forecast that can save millions of dollars, even lives. It is no longer just about targeted advertising or consumer marketing.
Web 3.0, Cryptocurrencies and the Metaverse
In its essence, Web 3.0 is all about becoming a decentralized version of what the virtual world is. This is the world where users are able to connect with ease and better security without the need for any central authoritative framework. And this can be done with more inclusivity and neutrality. Cryptocurrency is built on the infrastructure of blockchains which are naturally decentralized networks. That is the very reason why Web 3.0 is so impactful to cryptocurrencies and vice versa.
The power of blockchains lies in their ability to provide transparency and openness and that is what Web 3.0 seeks to provide. Generally, blockchain brought about something that previous versions of the Web could not, freedom and democracy. With Smart Contracts and dApps, transactions are now more independent and automated, to say the least.
On another scale, it is also said that Web 3.0 could well be the realized version of the metaverse. It is after all formed through the intersection of the web, augmented and virtual reality and more prominently, blockchain. Where the browser was once hailed as the main tool to access information on the internet, it is now fast becoming possible that other devices like smartphones, watches, television and even refrigerators could provide the information that one needs on a daily basis. That is how far we have come and lo and behold, the arrival of Web 3.0.
