Evolution of the web

Web Generations: The Evolution

Web 1.0

This refers to the first state of the World Wide Web which was born in the 1991 until 1993. With this type of web content was mostly read only. As in the users or viewers of a website could not add or change the contents of the WebPages. This was non-interactive pages that are used for one way communication such as company WebPages and personal WebPages. Examples of WebPages that are in the web 1.0 era include electronic newsletters; company profiles even a shopping cart.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 refers to the new way or techniques that are used to model most the WebPages that we see today. This came about as a shift from web 1.0 in 1994 as the web 2.0 is more refined to do more. It gives the viewer the ability to both “read and writes”. This means that tee user can now impact the web pages as the web pages are more interactive. Communication is this type of web is 2 way. Content in this type of WebPages are mostly user generated. Examples of WebPages that are in web 2.0 eras include social networking sites such as face book and MySpace.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is the combination of both web 1.0 and web 2.0 and not limited only to the desktop and computers. This type of internet has been driven by mobile computing devices such as smart phones and tablets. Much of the web 3.0 content can also be easily viewed or edited using these mobile devices. This type of web has the ability to predict what the users require the more they use their browsers. This would be able to do more than just returning search results but also give precise results to requests. In web 3.0 applications can communicate with one another. Example, when you need to find a restaurant. Applications can communicate the restaurant review and also add it on to Google maps to give the user a quick analysis of restaurants that are available.

Web 4.0

This is the combination of all the above named internets. However this internet will not only have features of all the above named but more. It will incorporate artificial intelligence. This means that this of network will be able to make predictions and decisions as if it were human. This type of web is not yet available but it could soon be a reality as human mind and machine will be able to interact.

Impact on e-commerce and e-business

In the begining with the web 1.0 communication was mainly one way. This was due to the fact that viewers could not add or edit the website. As a result it was used mostly for mass communication. As the web shifted to web 2.0 the communication gap between businesses and their customers was shortened. It was easier for businesses to communicate personalised information to users and users can also interact with the websites giving feedback. Web 3.0 came along as there was the need for people to be mobile and not be constrained to one place. This resulted in the development of applications for mobile devices and this has helped people conduct business from anywhere at any time.