The Web Eras Through The Eyes of Evo
Inaugural posts are so... predictable.
Yeah, I don't wanna do those common tropes. I want to do something a little more... meaningful, if you will. I've no idea if this is it or not, but I might as well give it ago.
I've been thinking a lot (as a total layperson) about "the web" and my place in it. Or, better stated, anyone's place in it. Here's my (half-hearted) breakdown as a primer:
• Web 1.0 (or, just, the internet to many) - More than a fair bit of technical expertise and/or patience was required. Not just to build content (Notepad, anyone?), but to actually find and navigate content. Directories barely scratched the surface. And every "webmaster" was way to into that little digging construction worker icon.
• Web 2.0 (social media) - The web is a two-way street! Not only is it insanely easy to build something (albeit on borrowed land), it's moronically simple to interact with others (albeit within that or those borrowed lands). Thanks to the advent of mobile phones that are really pocket-sized supercomputers, the web was always with us, and we were always on the web. Yay?
• Web3 (crypto/blockchain) - A handful of people got stupidly rich and predicted a brave new world was around the corner when we freed ourselves from the shackles of fiat currency and a sense of healthy skepticism. Congrats to those who got rich. Sorry for those of you who fell for the hype.
• Web Four (the rise of the Fediverse) - I've no idea if anyone else is calling it Web Four (or 4, IV, or even for, for that matter) but this is where we live now. A rise of distributed and decentralized systems that are nearly impossible to monetize—at least at the levels VCs get excited about—that are 20+ years old but now seeing a resurgence as the cracks in the foundation of Web 2.0 start to be even more apparent to... everyone.
This *feels* like what the internet was supposed to be for all of us, where we keep control, we connect with those we want to connect with, and we live our lives as healthy people.
At least, that's what I hope we do with this fourth iteration of "the web".
- Evo
Hello, world.
Is this thing on?
Just setting up my [name of new thing]!
Wake up, sheeple! We're living in an oligarchy!
Yeah, I don't wanna do those common tropes. I want to do something a little more... meaningful, if you will. I've no idea if this is it or not, but I might as well give it ago.
I've been thinking a lot (as a total layperson) about "the web" and my place in it. Or, better stated, anyone's place in it. Here's my (half-hearted) breakdown as a primer:
• Web 1.0 (or, just, the internet to many) - More than a fair bit of technical expertise and/or patience was required. Not just to build content (Notepad, anyone?), but to actually find and navigate content. Directories barely scratched the surface. And every "webmaster" was way to into that little digging construction worker icon.
• Web 2.0 (social media) - The web is a two-way street! Not only is it insanely easy to build something (albeit on borrowed land), it's moronically simple to interact with others (albeit within that or those borrowed lands). Thanks to the advent of mobile phones that are really pocket-sized supercomputers, the web was always with us, and we were always on the web. Yay?
• Web3 (crypto/blockchain) - A handful of people got stupidly rich and predicted a brave new world was around the corner when we freed ourselves from the shackles of fiat currency and a sense of healthy skepticism. Congrats to those who got rich. Sorry for those of you who fell for the hype.
• Web Four (the rise of the Fediverse) - I've no idea if anyone else is calling it Web Four (or 4, IV, or even for, for that matter) but this is where we live now. A rise of distributed and decentralized systems that are nearly impossible to monetize—at least at the levels VCs get excited about—that are 20+ years old but now seeing a resurgence as the cracks in the foundation of Web 2.0 start to be even more apparent to... everyone.
This *feels* like what the internet was supposed to be for all of us, where we keep control, we connect with those we want to connect with, and we live our lives as healthy people.
At least, that's what I hope we do with this fourth iteration of "the web".
- Evo