What is web 3.0? The future of the internet explained
Web 3.0 is the new buzzword among technology fans and crypto enthusiasts.
Many hope it will arrive as an announced messiah that will save us from cookies, trackers, advertising, and data theft by large centralized companies. However, web 3.0 is still in its infancy, and it's hard to know if whatever has been said and promised will become true.
Since we can't play futurologists or know what web 3.0 will look like the day it arrives, we can only talk about what we know today about what this new web will look like.
Past and present of the internet
Before we talk about web 3.0, we have to talk about the internet and web 1.0 and 2.0.
The first thing is to understand that the web is not the same as the internet. "The internet is the physical network equipment and computers that keep the world connected, along with the internet protocol describing how all these devices speak to each other." On the other hand, the web is one or several services that work within the internet and are usually the most common user-facing part.
This means that web 3.0 is not a radical change in the internet but in how users navigate it. It is one more iteration of how people and objects relate to each other through the internet. To make this a little clearer (especially for those who have only known our actual internet version), here is a little history.
Web 1.0: the "read-only" web (1990- 2005)
If you're 25 or older, you probably remember when web pages looked like this:
If you are younger, this image probably shocked you, and you just thought, "how boring." Well, that was web 1.0. A static web where there weren't many images and no videos, gifs, etc. This website was based on texts and hyperlinks between pages, and the content was designed for users to enter, read and exit. There were no forms of interaction, and most users did not have the capacity or technical knowledge to create their own content.
The interesting thing about this internet age was decentralization. Most pages were not hosted on large servers from big tech companies. Instead, many were hosted on people's computers or small company servers. Therefore, there were no large monopolies, and users did not deliver as much data as they do today.
Web 2.0: the social web (2005- present)
Web 2.0 began to gain strength in the mid-2000s. It is a website where the user is no longer just a passive observer but begins to have a relationship with other users and generate content.
The first steps of this new network were the forums, chats, and blogs that boomed in the first half of the decade. Then social networks began to appear, the absolute symbol of web 2.0, and they changed all game rules.
This change was also marked by the appearance of unblockable advertising and the great discovery of the big technology companies: DATA. With the discovery of data and its appropriation by large companies, the lucrative internet business of selling information to the highest bidder began, leading to a boom in internet advertising.
Web 2.0, also known as the "social web," could well be called the web of data commerce because this is, basically, what characterizes this web iteration.
Photo by: Pixabay on pexels.com
However, this web is also the web of content creation. Users no longer have to know some code to upload text, photos, or videos to the pages. If they are good and successful, the pages allow them to profit from them.
Another change that marks this website is the centralized hosting services. Hosting owned by large tech companies like Amazon is beginning to become the only way to store web pages and data, which ends up centralizing the web in the hands of a few. With the ability to impose its "terms and conditions" on users who, knowingly or unknowingly, have no choice but to deliver their data in exchange for being able to browse the web.
As it is happening now, the change between web 1.0 and web 2.0 was gradual. We can consider the complete adoption of web 2.0 is marked by the arrival and massive use of Facebook.
Web 3.0 explained
The term "Web 3" was coined in 2014 by Gavin Wood, a co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain. As the next step of the internet, especially speaking of the central role that the blockchains are going to play. This technology is one of the most important factors for web 3.0 to become a reality.
The central pillar of this new iteration of the web is decentralization. With this, in theory, users will be in control of their data. As a result, they could earn money by sharing or selling their data and content. This currently doesn't happen since, accepting the cookies and conditions of a page, you are authorizing them to use your data. In addition, content creators are limited by the rules imposed by the platforms. Therefore not everyone can sell their content or make a profit from it.
Other important concepts connected with the technical infrastructure of Web 3.0 are that it is open, trustless, and permissionless, we will talk about this later.
The Semantic Web
This is a common confusion when researching web 3.0. and it's because, in many articles, it is also called the "semantic web."
This term was coined by Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the internet. For him, web 3.0 was going to be the evolution of human-machine communication, especially machine-machine communication. So his definition of web 3.0 was closer to concepts such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things than to the blockchain.
Foto de Pradamas Gifarry en Unsplash
For him, the evolution of the internet had to do with the ability of machines to process natural language and send users more relevant information concerning their questions. Although these technologies have not reached the point that Berners-Lee expected, we can see some elements of his idea of web 3.0 in the advances of IoT or artificial intelligence.
However, this is not the “web 3.0” we are here to discuss. Therefore, at least today, we will not delve further into these technologies.
Open, trustless, and permissionless
These three words are closely associated with decentralized finance or DEFI and the world of cryptos and blockchain. However, we are going to explain them from the perspective of web 3.0.
Trustless means that the interactions and transactions to be carried out can take place between two parties without the need for a third party. This was not the case in web 2.0 or web 1.0, where someone was always mediating or facilitating a transaction.
An example of a trustless transaction would be sending cryptocurrency directly to another person. The blockchain algorithm and encryption would control this entire process, and there is almost zero chance that someone could intervene and interrupt it.
On the other hand, permissionless means neither party needs authorization from a third party, be it a service provider or the government, before carrying out the transaction.
Finally, open refers to the fact that web 3 applications are open source, so anyone can look at the code, and it will not have backdoors or malicious code.
These three characteristics make this new web 3.0 different from 2.0, where there is always an intermediary, a platform, a “trusted” entity, or another person.
Web 3.0 technologies
We are clear about what is and what isn't web 3.0. Now we will look at the most important technologies that will be part of it.
Blockchain
This is probably the technology that perhaps most inspired the idea of Web 3.0, so it is also the best example. In addition, many other Web 3.0 technologies rely on a blockchain to function, which is the fundamental pillar for understanding how Web 3.0 will work.
The blockchain is a record of transactions that exists in its entirety on multiple computers spread over the Internet. Every time a new “block” of transactions is added to the chain, all copies of the database must be matched and modified. All transactions are in public view and are permanent and immutable.
These transactions are not necessarily about money, but most people associate the blockchain with cryptos.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies are fungible decentralized digital assets that are not controlled by any government or central authority. In simple words, they are a currency that is only backed by the supply and demand of users but that can legally buy goods and services.
These coins are hosted on the blockchain, where all transactions are controlled and added to a public registry. That way, the chain members know how much currency there is and who owns it. The amount of currency available depends on the “mining.” This means adding computational power to the blockchain in exchange for new currency.
Foto de Quantitatives en Unsplash
NFTs
You've probably heard a lot about them already. NFTs are another cornerstone of Web 3.0.
Non-fungible tokens are a form of cryptography in which each asset is unique and cannot be exchanged for another. They are usually linked to digital or physical assets in the same way a paper title to a house represents ownership. Currently, the most common form of NFTs are artistic: videos, music, or drawings. But the evolution of technology may, in the future, be a way to prove ownership of other objects on the web.
However, right now, no legal authority recognizes NFTs as property titles. So in case of theft or loss of an asset, no one will answer you. However, that may change as NFT technology evolves and benefits from the legislation.
Smart Contracts
As with any other kind of contract, Smart contracts are digital documents that specify the conditions to carry out a transaction between two or more parties. However, unlike normal contracts, smart contracts do not require a central authority to enforce or monitor anything. Everything happens automatically according to the rules and logic of the contract.
Those contracts make it possible to provide financial services, or draft legal agreements between parties, without the need for a third party to serve as guarantor and enforce the deal. In theory, they are much fairer and cannot be tampered with once activated.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
A DAO is a new type of organizational structure based on blockchain technology. In its most basic form, DAOs are groups of people who come together for a common purpose, such as investing in businesses or managing a cryptocurrency, among other things.
ConsenSys defines DAOs as “Governing Bodies that oversee the allocation of resources linked to the projects in which they participate and that are also charged with ensuring the long-term success of the project they support.”
In other words, they are decentralized and horizontal groups in which all who have a token have the right to vote. Furthermore, the organization’s rules are encoded using Smart contracts, which makes it virtually impossible to commit fraud since every transaction is registered on a Blockchain. However, this system still faces many legal and organizational drawbacks. Until now, many projects have failed, and others are still too small to know if DAOs can become an effective form of governance of the new web 3.0.
Decentralized Apps (dApps)
This means that the data and records of the apps operation are cryptographically stored on a blockchain.
These types of platforms are open source and operate autonomously. There is no central server nor any entity that controls everything that happens there. In this type of service, the users are the ones who have control of the operation through distributed nodes and DAOs as a governance method.
For users, the interface is like any conventional application and works more or less the same. The difference is not in the front end or graphical interface but in the back end, that is, in the technology that supports the DApps.
DApps work with many of the technologies that we have already mentioned. They usually have a governance system, the DAO, in addition to having their own token. To have both things, the entire system must have an intelligent contract that governs it and makes it fair and automatic. In this sense, we can say that DApps are the final product of putting into practice all the technologies and methodologies the blockchain offers.
Edge Computing
Edge computing brings the processing power close to where the data is being generated. In other words, it brings the cloud closer to the user, to the very edge of the network.
With Edge Computing, we can virtualize server capabilities and enable processing power to happen on those edge devices. This makes it possible to move capabilities that were previously “far away” on a cloud server much closer to the devices. Since the processing happens much closer, the speed skyrockets, the latency is reduced, and the possibilities are multiplied.
The Metaverse
The Metaverse is another concept that is somewhat difficult to explain and understand. But according to predictions, it is another of the technologies that will be interconnected with Web 3.
The Metaverse is a vision of what our future interface with the web will look like. It relies heavily on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to create an immersive user experience.
In theory, within the Metaverse, digital elements will blend with the real world and interact with the web in a much more physical way, allowing us to touch, smell and interact with digital objects as if they were real.
Some opinions and challenges of the Web 3.0
Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk, two significant figures in the technological world, have been the ones who have sparked the most controversy.
Dorsey, founder of Twitter and CEO of the payments company Block. He wrote in his account that the venture capital companies are the ones who will finally end up managing web 3.0 and not the users. Which unleashed the wrath of the most ardent believers of the decentralized and democratic web.
On the other hand, Elon Musk made fun of them, saying that web 3.0 was nothing more than an imaginary concept, saying that he had not seen web 3.0, to which Dorsey replied that it was somewhere between A and Z, insinuating that it's under control of the venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz called Andreessen Horowitz.
Finally, Musk also tweeted that, for now, Web 3.0 “seems more like a marketing buzzword than a reality. I wonder what the future will look like in 10, 20, 30 years.”
To these prominent voices are added those of the detractors of Blockchain technology, who are not few and are increasingly alarmed by the energy expenditure generated by the chain of blocks and everything related to it.
Conclusions
How web 3.0 currently paints the panorama is still several years away. Social networks and big technology companies still have a lot of power, and most people are little or not at all familiar with the world of crypto and blockchain. It takes time or a paradigm shift in the network for adoption to become massive. For now, we will have to wait and see how web 3.0 grows and evolves and that theoretical ideal of democracy and decentralization becomes a reality.