What Web 3.0 is and how it differs from earlier versions

What is Web 3.0? It is the concept of the next generation of the internet, built on decentralization, new technologies and wider user control over their own data. To understand this idea, it is worth looking at how earlier generations of the World Wide Web developed.

The common ground of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

The development of the internet is usually viewed through several generations. Each differs in how information is published, how users interact with sites and how data storage is organized.

Web 1.0

1989–2005.

Web 1.0 was the first generation of the World Wide Web. It was based on static web pages on which information was published with HTML.

Most content was placed directly on web server pages. Users could read published materials and exchange information, but the possibilities for interacting with sites were limited.

The content of pages was mostly static, and interfaces hardly reacted to visitors’ actions. The internet was mainly accessed from desktop computers.

The early internet can be described as a “read-only” environment.

Web 2.0

From 2005.

Web 2.0 can be seen as a dynamic network in which more and more businesses and users began to interact actively through the internet.

Data became more dynamic, and server databases became widespread. The concept of centralized servers developed, and the role of cloud computing gradually grew.

Cloud technologies let companies host data and applications in public, private and hybrid clouds.

The development of Web 2.0 was also accompanied by the spread of the web technologies HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. They widened the capabilities of sites and helped adapt them to different devices.

Angular, React, and hybrid and native mobile platforms played an important role.

The internet became more flexible and accessible from various devices: desktop computers, tablets, smartphones, Internet of Things (IoT) equipment, smart cars and home systems.

What Web 3.0 is

The term Web3 is linked to Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, who proposed it in 2014.

The key idea of Web3 is the use of decentralized blockchain-based systems that let users control their own data.

At the same time Web 2.0 keeps developing. The Web 3.0 concept arises as a response to some limitations of the centralized model of the internet.

Web 2.0 was an important stage in the development of the World Wide Web, but along with new opportunities certain problems appeared.

Main features of Web 3.0

The Web 3.0 concept brings together many directions and technologies. Let’s look at the most important ones.

Decentralization

In Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 resources are mostly hosted centrally.

A user requests a particular URL over HTTP and then receives content from a server. That server may interact with other systems and data sources.

Web 3.0 assumes changing this approach through the use of decentralized systems.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence lets computer systems perform tasks that require intelligent processing of information.

Machine learning is one of the branches of AI thanks to which systems can learn from data and act with a certain degree of autonomy.

In the Web 3.0 concept, artificial intelligence is seen as one of the technologies able to widen the capabilities of the internet.

Connectivity and ubiquity

An important feature of Web 3.0 is the interconnection of different technologies.

Some artificial intelligence systems use many interconnected computing components.

A similar principle of interaction is used in the Internet of Things.

The Internet of Things (IoT) brings together everyday objects connected to the network. Within the Web 3.0 concept, further development of links between devices, servers, programs and applications is considered.

Trustless and permissionless operation

One of the ideas of Web 3.0 is to create systems that users do not need to rely on a single intermediary to interact with.

The article also covers metaverses, in which users can access virtual spaces and create them on their own.

Such systems assume the possibility of forming open virtual worlds and interaction between their participants.

What the Web 3.0 internet may become

Web 3.0 is the concept of the next generation of the internet, in which users will be able to connect to decentralized networks and get more control over their own data.

This direction is linked with the development of intelligent systems, the semantic web, blockchain, metaverses and digital assets.

Which of these technologies will become most widespread will be shown by the further development of the internet.