The Joy of Tech has posted a comic entitled The Definitive Guide to Future Web Versions, most likely inspired by Jason Calacanis' recent blog post where he gives us the "official" definition of Web 3.0. 
Needless to say, I don't agree with any of it. He's basically declaring that "Web 3.0" is Web 2.0 without the crap. Which is admirable, but completely wrong.
How many times must I say this? The Web is not something that is versioned. The Web isn't a piece of software. It is an ecosystem. And like other ecosystems, it changes and evolves over time, either by nature or by its inhabitants, who are constantly striving to create an optimal environment for them to dwell in—which is exactly what's been going on with the Web all these years. These past few, however, we have experienced an accelerated growth rate. So it's only natural that some noise has come in along with the signal.
By employing Semantic Web techniques, we're able to filter out the good, meaty data that we want without getting any crustiness that we don't want. Things like Microformats are definitely helping make this easier, and I've been a big promoter of 'em ever since I discovered them almost two years ago.
I really think this the next direction the Web will be taking in the coming years: Semantic data, Microformats, Open APIs—all this stuff that's making my mouth water—because as a developer, I can only imagine all the ways I can leverage this data. Sure, other things like better-quality content will come, too—probably even in parallel to the evolution of the Semantic Web—but you really need a solid foundation to build this content onto, otherwise it's just adding to the rest of the noise out there.
Technorati Tags: web, web 2.0, web 3.0, microformats, semantic web
