Ep 4 – Web 3.0 and The Evolution of The Internet

Episode Four, Web 3.0 and the evolution of the Internet. Welcome back and thanks for tuning in. As we explored earlier, the new internet - Web 3.0 is being built on the blockchain. So what does that mean? To understand what Web 3 is, we need to go back to the beginning of the internet and look at the journey from Web 1 to Web 2 ( which is the internet as we currently know it) to an entirely new infrastructure- building the future of the Internet on the blockchain.

Web 1internet was very basic. It was a static experience, you could build a simple website, you could look up a website. If you were a business owner, you could put up the details of your business so people could find you, you could read articles and blogs, and it was completely static. And of course, we had email as slow as it was.

That was surpassed by Web 2, which was the birth of search engines and social media networks, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, the birth of marketplaces, the ability to purchase products and services online, and of course, social games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. Web 2, however, has been very much defined by the major tech companies gathering our data as a condition of joining their platforms. And then using that data to sell back to us. The extent of the information and data they have on us, we are not privy to. They keep our data on their own servers, and program algorithms to push advertising to us. That is the revenue model for these giant tech companies.

The promise of Web 3 is that this will end because Web 3 will be the democratization of the internet. Web 3 will be built on the blockchain with all its anonymity and security. Now, if you're selling products and services online, so you're an e-commerce business, the only way for you to be part of this new Web 3 and be able to seamlessly accept cryptocurrency will be to upgrade your website to a Web 3 websit That is actually quite major. Big companies are already engaging with Blockchain developers to transition their website platforms onto a Web 3 blockchain infrastructure. So we really need to go back to that almost utopian vision of the original founders of blockchain who wanted to see a decentralized way forward for humanity and paving the way for a decentralized internet. So Web 3 will be built on the blockchain, representing a very significant change to the internet.

The big news of last year and that's probably what propelled the word "Metaverse" into everyone's consciousness was that Facebook changed their name to Meta Platforms, and they're committing billions of dollars to move anyone who's currently on Facebook into the Metaverse or shall I say more specifically into Facebook's Metaverse. Facebook as a Metaverse experience. Essentially what the Metaverse is, is the convergence of all existing technologies, like augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, avatars, virtual gaming worlds, NFT's and cryptocurrency, all converging, coming together to offer us an entirely new way to experience the Internet. The Metaverse experience will move us from the physical realm into the virtual realm as a very natural part of our every day. That is what is coming. Everyday we are hearing of new brands companies, organizations embracing the metaverse and its potential and creating products for the Metaverse. I will be releasing quite a few podcast episodes on all of this, so definitely stay tuned.

What this means is if the Internet does become decentralized, it could potentially remove the power of the tech giants like Facebook and Google, because we will have a lot more options. So it's fascinating, fascinating time to be part of this. And I think there will be a struggle between them and the pure decentralized businesses that are going to be created, and we as the consumer moving forward will have a choice as to where we want to stake our business and our social lives on the Internet.