I was in a meeting Tuesday with a Yahoo! executive, who I shall not name. He several times used the term “Web 3.0” in a way that makes me think that people are actually bandying this new meme about the boardroom without laughing. This was the first time I had heard anyone use “Web 3.0” in a non-ironic context, and I started having flashbacks of the scourge that was the “UGC” fad. So, I thought I’d speak my mind before this actually becomes a thing…or has it already?
It seems that our execs have been beaten (yet again) to the Web 3.0 party by Google (though this time, I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed of). And wait, on the same day, there’s an article about the first self-proclaimed Web 3.0 company I’ve heard of so far. WTF!? I don’t even know what this term means and I have seen it used 3 times on the first day I’ve ever heard of it – I hereby pronounce August 29, 2006 the birthday of Web 3.0…national holiday, anyone?
Though it doesn’t seem that anyone has actually agreed upon a definition for Web 3.0 (did we ever really have one for Web 2.0, anyway?), we here at Yahoo! aren’t ones to let a little detail like that get in the way of what we believe could be a huge viral marketing opportunity. While Crockford’s team continues to push the envelope with their Web 4.0 work, we of the Widgets team are focusing on the present. And so, I’m pleased to announce that Ed Voas, chief architect for Yahoo! Widgets, has been in discussions with the W9C to make the next release of the Yahoo! Widget Engine fully Web 3.0 compliant. Stay tuned…
Oh, hell to the fucking no. If Web 3.0 becomes a regular term, I swear to god I’m going to leave the tech industry. Maybe I’ll be a writer, start a sitcom. It would have Web 3.0 jokes.