Key Takeaways:
Before Web 3.0, users and builders had to choose between the limited functionality of Web 1 or the corporate, centralized model of Web 2
Web 3.0 combines the decentralized, community-governed ethos of Web 1 with the advanced, modern functionality of Web 2.
In Web 3.0, ownership and control is decentralized. Users and builders can own pieces of internet services by owning tokens, both non-fungible (NFTs) and fungible. Tokens give users property rights: the ability to own a piece of the internet.
Web 1.0 refers to the first stage of the World Wide Web evolution. Earlier, there were only a few content creators in Web 1.0 with a huge majority of users who are consumers of content. Personal web pages were common, consisting mainly of static pages hosted on ISP-run web servers, or on free web hosting services.
In Web 1.0 advertisements on websites while surfing the internet are banned.
Web 1.0 is a content delivery network (CDN) that enables the showcase of the piece of information on the websites. It can be used as a personal website. It costs the user as per pages viewed. It has directories that enable users to retrieve a particular piece of information.
Four design essentials of a Web 1.0 site include:
Static pages.
Content is served from the server’s file system.
Pages built using Server Side Includes or Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
Frames and Tables are used to position and align the elements on a page.
Summary: Web 1.0 was about open protocols that were decentralized and community-governed. Most of the value accrued to the edges of the network — users and builders
Web 2.0 refers to worldwide websites which highlight user-generated content, usability, and interoperability for end users. Web 2.0 is also called the participative social web. It does not refer to a modification to any technical specification, but to modify the way Web pages are designed and used. The transition is beneficial but it does not seem that when the changes occur. Interaction and collaboration with each other are allowed by Web 2.0 in a social media dialogue as the creator of user-generated content in a virtual community. Web 2.0 is an enhanced version of Web 1.0.
Five major features of Web 2.0:
Free sorting of information, permits users to retrieve and classify the information collectively.
Dynamic content that is responsive to user input.
Information flows between the site owner and site users by means of evaluation & online commenting.
Developed APIs to allow self-usage, such as by a software application.
Web access leads to concern different, from the traditional Internet user base to a wider variety of users.
Summary: Web 2.0 was about centralized services run by corporations. Most of the value accrued to a handful of companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook
Web 3.0 is a new buzzterm that is being thrown around by just about everyone, but what does it actually mean?
It refers to the evolution of web utilization and interaction which includes altering the Web into a database. It enables the up-gradation of the back-end of the web, after a long time of focus on the front-end with Web 2.0 Web 3.0 is a term that is used to describe many evolutions of web usage and interaction among several paths. In this, data isn’t owned but instead shared, where services show different views for the same web / the same data.
5 main features that can help us define Web 3.0:
Semantic Web - Fetch content through search and analysis based on the capability to comprehend the meaning of words, rather than on keywords or numbers.
Artificial Intelligence - Computers can distinguish information like humans in order to provide faster and more relevant results.
3D Graphics - The three-dimensional design is being used widely in websites and services in Web 3.0.
Connectivity -Information is more connected thanks to semantic metadata.
Ubiquity - Content is accessible by multiple applications, every device is connected to the web
Summary: We are now at the beginning of the Web 3 era, which combines the decentralized, community-governed ethos of Web 1 with the advanced, modern functionality of Web 2. Web 3 is the internet owned by the builders and users, orchestrated with tokens
As mentioned, the hallmark of web 2.0 is centralized platforms. There are some innate problems with this.
Centralized platforms follow a predictable life cycle. At first, they do everything they can to recruit users and 3rd-party complements like creators, developers, and businesses.
They do this to strengthen their network effect. As platforms move up the adoption S-curve, their power over users and 3rd parties steadily grows.
When they hit the top of the S-curve, their relationships with network participants change from positive-sum to zero-sum. To continue growing requires extracting data from users and competing with (former) partners.
Famous examples of this are Microsoft vs. Netscape, Google vs. Yelp, Facebook vs. Zynga, Twitter vs. its 3rd-party clients, and Epic vs Apple.
For 3rd parties, the transition from cooperation to competition feels like a bait-and-switch. Over time, the best entrepreneurs, developers, and investors have learned to not build on top of centralized platforms. This has stifled innovation.
Now let’s talk about Web 3. In Web 3, ownership and control is decentralized. Users and builders can own pieces of internet services by owning tokens, both non-fungible (NFTs) and fungible. Tokens give users property rights: the ability to own a piece of the internet.
NFTs give users the ability to own objects, which can be art, photos, code, music, text, game objects, credentials, governance rights, access passes, and whatever else people dream up next. NFTs exist on top of blockchains like Ethereum. Ethereum is a decentralized global computer that is owned and operated by its users.
Blockchains are special computers that anyone can access but no one owns. Ethereum is powered by a fungible token, ETH, which is used to incentivize the physical computers that underlie the system. ETH is also the system’s native currency for transactions, like NFT purchases. There are many ways for users to acquire fungible and non-fungible tokens. You can buy them, but there are also ways to earn them.
Uniswap famously retroactively airdropped 15% of its governance tokens to early users of the protocol. Community grants like this have become common in Web 3 as a way to build goodwill and incentivize adoption. You can also earn tokens through creative and entrepreneurial activities. For example, people are earning roughly $100M worth of ETH per day selling NFTs.
Tokens align network participants to work together toward a common goal — the growth of the network and the appreciation of the token. This fixes the core problem of centralized networks, where the value is accumulated by one company, and the company ends up fighting its own users and partners.
Before Web 3, users and builders had to choose between the limited functionality of Web 1 or the corporate, centralized model of Web 2. Web 3 offers a new way that combines the best aspects of the previous eras. It’s very early in this movement and a great time to get involved.
