what is web3?
Web3 introduction
If you or your company have any online presence, chances are you have heard the terms Web3 or Web 3.0 used before. For many, these concepts are perceived as ones which only extremely tech-literate people will understand or may simply be overlooked as something that they think will not affect them or their businesses.
Both are misconceptions.
When we strip away all the buzzwords and jargon, the fundamental concepts of Web3 and Web 3.0 can be easily understood, and companies can begin to explore the vast array of opportunities this new digital landscape can offer.
Our work with ADAPTOVATE clients in understanding Web 3.0 has led us to creating some short articles to get your team thinking about implementing Web 3.0 strategies to set them up for future success. If you are at board level or C-Suite, understanding the basics before diving into the detail will ensure you can get the right people in place to pursue the right opportunities, at the right time.
What is the Web?
Before we dive into the world of Web3 and Web 3.0, you may understandably be wondering how we got here, and what Web 1.0 and 2.0 are.
First, let’s begin with the term “Web”. Whilst many people use the words “Web” and “internet” interchangeably, there are slight nuances that should be highlighted. The internet is the medium through which we access the Web. In other words, the internet serves as the highway, and the Web are the stops we choose to make (i.e. webpages / websites).
With this in mind, we can now begin with explaining Web 1.0.
Where it all began – Web 1.0
Web 1.0 simply describes the first “generation” of the World Wide Web, which occurred between 1990 and 2004. During this period, users would go onto their internet browser, type in the website URL they wanted to navigate to and be directed to a static webpage on which they could view content.
The first website
Source: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
The defining characteristics of this era of the internet were that website content was not interactive and all users would view the same content on the same website, as opposed to receiving tailored content based on their digital identity. This meant all content on webpages was “read-only”, and its core function was to serve as a digital source of information. The internet was purely seen as a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and there were only a small number of content creators, as creation required access to a server, programming knowledge, and the writing of many lines of code.
The Web 2.0 landscape
As more and more people ventured online, the web began to evolve and users became eager to not just consume content, but to actively contribute to it. This is where the concept of Web 2.0 was incepted, with it being tied to the emergence and explosion of social media platforms and apps. These platforms proved to be hugely disruptive forces, as now users would venture online not just to read content but to actively create and engage with others online in virtual communities.
These social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as a handful of others such as Google and Amazon, began to disproportionately harbour user web traffic, serving as “centralised” content hubs. With this came immense monetary opportunities for these companies in the form of advertising revenue and data collection. This Web 2.0 period is often referred to as the “read-write” webpage era, where users could read and produce content, but ultimately ownership of this content and data was maintained by the companies that owned the webpages. People considered this phase to be the “web as a platform”, where users became empowered to express themselves online.
A tag cloud of Web 2.0 themes
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
The new frontier – Web3 (or is it Web 3.0?)
So now we arrive at the nexus of the next wave of Web innovation.
Firstly, it is important to note that although many people use the terms “Web3” and “Web 3.0” interchangeably, there are a few distinctions in the concepts and approach each of them refer to.
Web 3.0 is often called the “linked” or “semantic web” and focuses primarily on linking data across websites to create a single, connected internet. Currently, most websites operate in information silos, meaning your data and profile from one webpage does not carry over to other accounts you have on other online domains.
For example, if you create an avatar and make in-game purchases for an online game, this profile will only be linked to that one game and will not have data carried over into other games or web profiles. If the game creators delete your account or you stop playing that particular game, you lose all the value you worked to create. Web 3.0 seeks to move towards a web in which all your data is stored in one place (called a “pod”), with users being able to use this data and account to access webpages and applications. Essentially, each person will have one holistic “WebID” that they can use to verify themselves.
The term “Web3” on the other hand was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and its development is closely tied to the emergence of cryptocurrency, and more specifically, the underlying blockchain technology used to build these frameworks. What made this concept of the blockchain so revolutionary was its ability to allow information to not be stored or owned by one central source. Instead, all information and proof of transactions is stored on a “distributed ledger”, whereby authenticity of transactions was verified by the collective userbase of computer systems.
Consider this: I work at a Bank and want to fraudulently update my bank account balance on the system to show my balance as being $100,000 instead of $100. If I somehow managed to do this in the internal banking system, it would be difficult for the bank to prove my balance as being incorrect, as I have made the changes to the ultimate source of truth. Now consider if I tried to do this, but there was not a single system I had to update my balance on. Instead, there was an expansive network of individual computers, each of which showed my actual balance and to get away with my fraud I would have to individually change what was shown on the majority of these systems. This is the power of the blockchain.
It quickly became apparent that this technology had far broader use cases than simply to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions, as it overcame a lot of the systemic problems with centralised ownership of data, whereby manipulation of data and fraud were major concerns.
Although Web3 and Web 3.0 use different technologies to achieve their purpose of improved data security and control, both concepts have the same underlying goal of creating a web in which we move away from large tech companies owning, using, and selling user data for their own benefit. Instead, users will be able to store and own their personal information and data securely, and conscientiously choose who can read their data. Most importantly however, is that even the apps that read the user data should not gain ownership or full control of the users’ data.
Source: Appinventive: History of Web1 & Web2 & Web3
Key Web3 / Web 3.0 Concepts and Terms
Alongside the underlying technology mentioned above, this new phase of the internet serves as an umbrella term under which sit a host of ancillary technology and concepts which we will briefly define for you:
Where we are heading
This new frontier has been collectively called the “embodied internet”, referring to the fact that now it is becoming more and more challenging for people to draw clear separation between their physical life and their digital one, with both augmenting over each other more seamlessly than ever. Everything we do online is progressing towards more 3D immersive experiences, where our digital profile and its corresponding data are just as much part of our identity as things that we physically own. Consequently, individuals and businesses are willing to dedicate large amounts of resources to establishing and building out their digital presence in this new landscape in a bid to differentiate themselves and showcase their unique perspectives.
The migration from a 2D internet to a 3D one is where Mark Zuckerburg proposes all our digital experiences will be extremely immersive. This brings with it a myriad of opportunities for companies to find ways to bring their physical and 2D web customer experiences into this new landscape and to offer enticing ways to represent their brands. This has already begun to happen with many multinational brands ranging from big-tech (such as Meta, Microsoft, Twitter) to retail (such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance), to even the food industry (such as McDonald’s, Burger King) attaching significant importance to developing metaverse content, often involving NFTs. Additionally, many of these corporations have begun researching metaverse-related patents and trademarks that they can leverage to obtain a competitive advantage in this new market.
Since the dawn of time humans have invented tools to make tasks easier and save our energy for more creative pursuits. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is not only freeing us up from tasks like driving, keeping shopping lists, it is reshaping everything from disease diagnosis to the way we work.
Learn more about how ADAPTOVATE can assist your organization adopt Web3 technologies for better outcomes.
Locations
USA
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Sydney
Simpson House, Level 5, 249 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000
+61 2 7200 2530
Melbourne
L20, 15 William Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
+61 2 7200 2530
Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau)
Level 4, ACS House, 3 Ferncroft Street,
Grafton, Auckland 1010
New Zealand
SINGAPORE
3 Temasek Avenue #18-01 Centennial Tower
Singapore 039190
+65 98348486
POLAND
ul. Czackiego 15/17
00 -043 Warszawa
+48 505 626 416
CANADA
Postal location:
110 Cumberland Street Suite # 307
Toronto ON M5R 3V5
Physical office location:
296 Richmond St. West
Toronto, ON M5V 1X2
Canada
+1 647 631 1205
UK
5th Floor, 167-169 Great Portland Street
London W1W 5PF
+44 20 3603 1662
About us
Key Approaches
Industries
Trending Topics
©2022 ADAPTOVATE. All rights reserved