Web 3.0 and 4.0: what awaits the Internet in 20 years

How the new generation Internet is connected with the blockchain and metaverses and whether corporations are ready to give the worldwide network under the control of the community – we figured it out in the new episode of the Trends podcast “What has changed?”

Participants of the discussion:

• George Paliani, founder of boutique consulting agency PBC.
• Evgeny Yudin, creator of projects on the TON blockchain, founder of the marketing studio Rotgar.com and the international drug encyclopedia.
• Sergey Romantsev is a podcast host and tech blogger.

Highlights from the release

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: how our internet credentials have grown

Web 1.0 is a term that came along with the term Web 2.0 to describe the Web before the dot-com bubble in 2001. Users could only read the content, but could not influence it in any way or upload their own.

Web 2.0 – a term that describes the Internet as we know it now: users can both read or watch content, and interact with it – like, comment; and also create your own.

Web 2.0 is a “closed corporate metaverse,” according to George Paliani. The network is centrally controlled by large corporations and providers. So, the management of Google or YouTube has the ability to make content unavailable in a certain country or block a user without warning.

Web 3.0 – what are its features and why is it criticized

В Web 3.0 the user can consume content, interact with it, create it himself. It is an “open democratic crypto-metaverse” that is owned and controlled by all users. The vote of each participant is taken into account – this opportunity is provided by blockchain technologies. All data is stored decentralized on the devices of network participants. Web 3.0 is the concept of the Internet of the future, but any decentralized applications can already be called its examples: as a rule, the Ethereum platform is used to create them.

• The rules and key issues in Web 3.0 are created by the community, not by the regulator. So, now you can complain about inappropriate or offensive content, but the final decision is not made by users, but by the platform on which this content is hosted. In Web 3.0, users will be the ones who validate such decisions. At the same time, the main task is not to deprive the regulatory authorities of their powers, but to give the community control and choice. Organizations like Roskomnadzor will be able to invite users to review this or that content and decide whether to block it, and not vice versa.
• In Web 3.0, information will be stored distributed on the devices of network participants who will be members of it. This is how, for example, TON (Telegram Open Network) is arranged, a blockchain-based decentralized network technology that was originally developed by the Telegram team.
• Web 3.0 has been criticized for its potential regulatory complications: disinformation, hate speech, and the like will be harder to control because there will be no centralized platform. In addition, development is hampered by limited resources, particularly in developing countries where there is simply not enough technology on which Web 3.0 could run.
• There are many startups creating the Internet of the future. But it is still difficult to say which of them will be the most successful and which specific technologies will prevail. As an example, George Paliani cites the IPFS project – “interplanetary file system”. It is a decentralized file sharing network where the unit being transferred is a block. It can store part of a file or a link to other blocks. These parts form files and directories. And the name IPFS is a tribute to J.K.R. Licklider’s ideas about the “intergalactic” Internet.
• The Metaverse and Web 3.0 are directly connected, Evgeny Yudin explains. Any online game is Web 2.0: the user plays by interacting with other players through a centralized network. In Web 3.0, everything is the same, only decentralized. The user is much more integrated into the network. For example, in Web 3.0 it will be possible to store a wallet – while it will be reliably protected thanks to the blockchain. The wallet will be able to connect to services where it will not be necessary to enter a username and password – just confirm your intention to make a purchase.

Web 4.0 – what awaits the Internet in 20 years

Web 4.0 – the result of the rapid development of Internet technologies in principle, Paliani believes. The key features will be mobility, voice interaction between the user and robots, work with artificial intelligence, the symbiosis of a person and a robot. Network access will become ubiquitous and permanent thanks to Starlink and other similar technologies. Self-learning systems will study people to understand exactly what a particular person needs at a particular moment. So, voice assistants will offer the most suitable and comfortable answer options for the user, and will be able to visualize them. Paliani hopes that we will see this within 10-20 years.

In the next 5-10 years, Yudin believes, technologies related to health monitoring will develop rapidly. They greatly affect the quality of human life and may even be able to increase the average life expectancy, because it will be easier to monitor your condition. And decentralization allows you to make the storage of health data secure.