What is Web 3.0?

I’m not sure how the lingo plays out, but that’s the less important and even possibly completely irrelevant question against the broader trends ahead of us.

Eric Schmidt, as well as imaginable, concisely summarizes what Web 3.0 starts to look like, given major trends already forming. Lightweight, customizable applications that:

• Can be reassembled in any number of different ways
• Can come to the end user anywhere on any device, platform or application
• Can spread virally
• Data can live on the cloud

It’s in essence a sort of a mesh between service-oriented architecture (implementation), widgetization/syndication (syndication), software as a service (business), viral marketing (marketing), and semantic web (standards).

But the important piece is that this hodge-podge of great ideas leads to an even greater idea: it’s cheaper and easier than ever to solve a great many problems. Technology pioneers are bringing us closer and closer to the realization of a virtual erector set. Assembling the pieces sparked the industrial age, but we’re in a revolutionary age where the creation is democratized.

Many have the goal of bringing programming to non-programmers. Changing to a User Interface completely is really the savior. The interface has always been a programming language, but that’s not going to fly for most people.

It’s going to be much faster to bring it to the people than wait for the people to come to you. Basically, the argument against human-powered search engines (versus Google), semantic web (versus practical, interoperable standards), and the command line (versus Mac).

The seeds are planted, but yet we’re in the early days of assembly. When the UI matures and anyone can CREATE something of value, that’s when this Web 3.0 thing really crosses and spreads, virally.

As such, Mr. Schmidt says this will be a huge market. Yet attention amidst this newly created noise will be the scarcest resource, akin to real estate on which homes are built. Those that control the attention, the land will probably reap the largest benefits.

It means a great deal of good for the world, but it doesn’t change the fundamental rules of business. Fix a problem, create value, find a market. Those without a problem trying to find a market still struggle, however Web 3.0 shakes out.

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