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Difference between Web 2.0 and Web 1.0

Web 1.0 | Web 2.0 | Web 3.0?

By Seattle Web DesignPublished 4 years ago 7 min read
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We all use the web; in fact, you are using it right now to read this blog post. I believe it’s important to know how it came into existence because it didn’t pop up from anywhere. The internet was actually made to be a weapon used by the US government. In 1962, the US was in the middle of the cold war with Soviet Russia. It was during this time that the US started focusing on space technology and improving communication over long distances. Scientists were looking for alternate ways of communicating and not rely on telephone lines.

They proposed “a galactic network of computers that could talk to one another. Such a network would enable government leaders to communicate even if the Soviets destroyed the telephone system”.

It took three years to develop a prototype and on the first transmission, it crashed after receiving two letters from “Login”. Yet the Internet was born, but badly needed changes.

Improvements to the Web

After the initial development of the internet, it wasn’t until the creation of the Transmission Control Protocol in 1970. That computers were able to successfully transfer data to one another. At this point, the information shared was limited to only a one-way connection. There was no search bar, you had to manually type out the domain name of the website you wanted to access, and

“here was different information on different computers, but you had to log on to different computers to get at it. Also, sometimes you had to learn a different program on each computer”. — Tim Berners-Lee

It was not until 1991 that, “Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web: an internet that was not simply a way to send files from one place to another but was itself a “web” of information that anyone on the Internet could retrieve”. Tim Berners-Lee can be seen as the father of the internet for this reason. The incredible thing is how he did it.

Technology

The internet at this time was quickly growing to millions of users and Berners-Lee wanted an easier way of using it for not only himself but for others too. He used what was available to him a computer language HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and was quickly gaining popularity. HTML 5 basically makes up the entirety of the web and all web developers are required to know this. Also, without it, there would not be any web pages as we see them today. He also introduced the Uniform Resource Identifier or (URL) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol or (HTTP). URLs allow us to access websites. We enter the unique domain name of the site or click a link to another existing website. He also had a focus on privacy for all users which is why he made HTTP. His dream for the internet was to make sure that it was open source and protected for users and hosts.

Free and Protected to all

As his web started to take off Berners-Lee wanted to make sure that the web would be used to its fullest. Which meant that no one owned the web leaving it a truly neutral space for all.

“So, Tim and others advocated ensuring that CERN would agree to make the underlying code available on a royalty-free basis, forever” — webfoundation.org

Not only did they fight to make sure that the world wide web would be for free they also fought for other rights as well.

  • Decentralization — No permission needed to post anything on the web
  • Non-discrimination
  • Net Neutrality
  • Bottom-up design
  • Open source code
  • Universality
  • Have to be in a language that all computers can understand
  • Consensus
  • Accepting agreements that are known
  • Thanks to him and his team, we can enjoy these rights today. Also, there are rules and guidelines to certain websites and laws, to try and keep the internet a lawful and civil place.

The Past: Web 1.0

Ever Since Berners-Lee created the web, we count that as web 1.0. In the mid-1990s, the websites all had a similar feel to it. They were all pretty static with their content meaning that once they publish their article to their website it did not change much or at all. For example, if I visit a website for information then came back to it a month later, it will still have the same information, implying it was very bland and static. On top of that, most of these websites were not interactable. You could not make changes to the website or even customize it. Which meant web developers and web designers were the only ones that had control in terms of updates to the content, design, or layout. Lastly, most of the programs you downloaded were proprietary.

Today: Web 2.0

As the web has progressed so have technologies. For example the addition of programming languages like JavaScrip, and PHP. In fact, web developers have definitely improved our website experience and how we operate and use the web.

We can not really say when we made the jump to web 2.0.

The reason why experts say this is because we still use some of the old technologies and features some of these techniques have been around since the World Wide Web first launched, so it’s impossible to separate Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 in a timeline.

The main differences between these Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are:

Non-Static websites

This includes sites that are ever-changing and constantly updating. For example dynamic websites where new content is available and interacted with.

Interactable Websites

You might have gone online and read a review of a restaurant or a movie that was left by somebody. Another example is a Wiki page where anybody can change the content on the page. Another great example is Google Maps. Gone are the days when you had to refresh the whole page. With today’s AJAX technology, snippets of content are available. For example traffic in Seattle is constantly updated.

Digital Marketing today

Web 2.0 is definitely a big part of how everyone interacts online and how digital marketing is morphing. For example, the collaboration and interactivity of social media platforms have made it so much easier for people to connect. Businesses use Web 2.0 as part of the many tools available when it comes to increasing productivity as well as online marketing and driving more website traffic.

“Almost 4.57 billion people were active internet users as of April 2020, encompassing 59 percent of the global population”.

Being able to get the word out about a product or service is made easier than ever and Web 2.0 has made it possible. Customers are able to view products, check reviews, zoom in, zoom out, view homes virtually all because of the interactivity and intuitiveness built into websites.

Future of the Web

Web 2.0 roughly started around the early 2000s but others might disagree with this. The fact of the matter is that we have been in this version for about two decades. Unlike Web 2.0 Web 3.0 is going to be a complete upgrade on how we do things and how we interact with the web itself. This will even change how developers create and design their websites.

The trend will be an artificial intelligence assistant that understands its user and personalizes everything. Web 3.0 will focus on giving the user a finer and improved experience. Experience in the sense that quality information will be available, and little time will be spent on trying to find it. In addition, more natural algorithms will be in play. One particular reason why online marketers and SEO experts build content based on visitors and web page viewers.

https://www.f5buddy.com/basic-definitions-of-web-1-0-web-2-0-and-web-3-0/

In the hopes to ease the user finding information that is better suited to their needs, web 3.0 will definitely be an improvement from Web 2.0. But sadly, there is no date when this technology will be available as its a work in progress.

Takeaway

The web first started out as a backup plan. The government later realized the importance of computers and started to research. A couple of years later Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web that we all know and use daily. He was able to do it by using the same computer languages that are used today (HTML).

Today’s web is truly a great place and thanks to Berners-Lee it is free and open to all. Web 3.0 on the horizon will adapt based on how and what we use the web for.

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About the Creator

Seattle Web Design

Seattle Web Design and Online Marketing agency provides a range of web related services to businesses and professionals.

Visit Visualwebz.com

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