Look Out Web 2.0, Web 3.0 is Coming ! (Is Here?)

From the "only constant is change" department....

Late last year I started seen some mention of the concept of Web 3.0 on various blogs. After all, such a designation is the logical next step in an era of everything "dot oh. Personally, I am not a big fan of "dot oh" since it it forces individuals to think in a linear manner, which in turn forces individuals to think about steps required to transition to the next level, which in turn.... well, I digress.

The concept of Web 3.0 is really just a re-branding of the semantic web for mass consumption and is the next step in Web evolution. Those who have discussed this next phase see it as an era where Web applications will (finally) start to do some seemingly intelligent tasks with the software itself discovering and make associations between far-flung bits of information. In other words, the mark-up language used to create each Web page would be written to dynamically cross-reference countless other data sources. The content itself will be able to convey more meaning and interactivity than the relatively static sites of today.

For example, an attendee visiting a conference Web site could select a session from the online program and immediately transfer the date, time, and location to an electronic calendar. The location of the conference itself including address, latitude, and longitude could be sent to a GPS device. The names, biographies, and contact information of other attendees could be sent to an instant messenger contact list.

The problem I see is that commercial library vendors have development cycles that move at glacier-like speeds. Our reliance on commercial vendors means that libraries will start seeing application which take advantage of semantic Web concepts some time after Web 4.0 talk is well underway. Sphere: Related Content