Week 8

This week’s lecture was about Web 2.0 Technologies. This lecture was very interesting because it pointed out how much the web has changed over the years and how much it can change further. However I found it very difficult to understand some parts of the lecture such as the applications and technologies within web 2.0. For this reason I had to do a lot of research to understand the areas properly.


Web 1.0 was made public in 1991 and was mostly used just to read information. There was no real way in which users could contribute their thoughts and opinions.

Web 2.0 is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking.

An Internet Week article by Howard Greenstein summarizes key differences between the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 models, mainly around the trend towards more dynamic, interactive, user-driven and -supplied content.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support. New technologies such as AJAX provide a rich, interactive user interface similar to client/server without the operational management headaches. AJAX applications run within a standard browser using standard web technology such as JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, Cascading Style Sheets and XML.

 

Web 2.0 technology can fundamentally change business processes by delivering productivity gains and making user feedback an integral part of development processes. But many IT managers are shying away from the technology, unsure of how it will fit into their business. A survey of 3,000 executives conducted in January by UK consultancy McKinsey found widespread but alert interest in using Web 2.0 technology to enable greater automation and networking within enterprises.

While O’Reilly believes that Web 3.0 is an extension of Web 2.0, he believes it will be a third generation web approximately between 2010 and 2020. In order to understand Web 3.0, we must balance it against the existing Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is about social networking and mass collaboration with the blurring of lines between content creator and user whereas Web 3.0 is based on “intelligent” web applications using:

• Natural language processing

• Machine-based learning and reasoning

• Intelligent applications

The goal is to adapt online searching and requests specifically to users’ preferences and needs

Web 3.0 is proclaimed to have the following features over web 2.0:

By opening up access to information, Web 3.0 applications will run on any device, computer, or mobile phone. Applications can be very fast and customizable. Unlike Web 2.0, where programs such as Facebook and MySpace exist in separate silos, Web 3.0 will allow users to journey freely from database to database and program to program.

Web 3.0 will use a three dimensional model and transform it into a series of 3D spaces. Services such as Second Life and the use of personalized avatars will be a common feature of the 3D web. Web 3.0 will extend beyond into the physical; imagine a Web connected to everything not only to mobile phones but cars, microwaves and clothes, therefore truly making an integrated experience.

Where Web 3.0 is about control of information web 2.0 is about information overload. The most obvious example is in the sheer explosion of programs and passwords on the Web which claim to encourage networking and socialization. Web 3.0 attempts to bring order and allow users to be more accurate in searching and finding precisely what they want.

In conclusion web 3.0 is proclaimed to have much higher benefits that the existing web 2.0.

This weeks seminar was about RSS news feeds which I found a bit boring because there was not much to do in the lab as I already knew how to do most of the things discussed in the given sheet. The exercise was very short and not very useful for this reason after completing the exercise I worked on my presentation on Peckish Foods.