Everybody is talking about Web 2.0 – Ajax, webservices and a thousand more buzzwords make the blogs headlines. But it is time for Web 3.0, or better Web 4.0 because there´s no linear progression in the way the internet gets deeper into our lives.
What we are experiencing at the moment with Web 2.0 is the beginning of the „humanizing“ of the internet: social software gives people a voice, individuals are using the web expressing themselves to the whole world, web interfaces are getting easier so that more and more people are able to use it.
But the future will bring us more individualization and more live communication. Take skype for example – they´ve started with audio but their future will be video live conferencing – on your mobile, everywhere. This is important: with the technology to have IP Networks everywhere there will raise new markets people can work in: From your personal fitness trainer, who advises you with your fitness excercises at home, to the professional cook, who you can book online to help you at your birthday meal in the kitchen – live via videoconferencing – the web will be the enabler to bring humans together everywhere in the world. Helpdesks for software-support will be normal – on a click you´ll get LIVE, PERSONAL advise from a helpdesk-staff, who will be able to help you with your computer problems – be it from india or any other place in the world. So this all has consequences. First of all the traffic will raise in an unbelieveable speed. This means demand for more and more hardware ressources: go! Invest in cisco! Secondly there´ll be a great demand for synchronization: there´ll be no more difference between mobile internet, wifi, or hardwire – take google for example: they are building the first free wifi network! This means, that you will have access to your data everywhere, anytime. You´ll use your private profile to pay your parking space, to buy your books, to get your seats of your shared car into the saved positions. Third, everything will be „on demand“: videos, eBooks, psychological help, netdoctors, financial consulting: from humans to humans.
Let´s call it the „rules of the small“: some big companies will enable all the small ones to do their business: amazon will develop from a „vendor“ to an „enabler“ a „connector“, connecting humans to create new marketspaces through conversations AND trust. Doctors will use conversation-places to be connected to their patients – and they are able to chose between the most trustworthy doc´s. Millions of computer experts will be able to help you with your computer problems. This is why eBay bought skype, and this is why Google makes free wifi: control the communication of the individuals, and you have business model of he future.
