In conclusion WEB 101 Topic 3.3 Laura's notes

Web 101: Communication and Collaboration Online

Laura’s notes

Topic 3.3 – Future Trends

Introduction:

By now, you will have a good background on the evolution of communication and participation over the Internet. Yet, as you have seen, changes occur very quickly in this realm - the idea of Web 2.0 was only really articulated in 2004. This week, as you conclude your studies and finalise your web presence assignment, we will look at some possibilities for the future of the web and how they might impact (influence) the way we use, communicate through and perceive it. (Curtin, 2010)

Instructions:

Follow through the information on this page, stopping to view any videos and performing the activities and readings as you get to them.

Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web

Throughout this unit, you have seen how quickly the Web has grown and evolved, from a series of static linked pages to a platform for a variety of applications and services. Yet the Web has a very significant limitation - it needs people to make sense of it. For example, if I want to find out the best value for money refrigerator that I can have delivered to my home in the next seven days I will first need to do some independent research on the kind of refrigerator I want. Then I will need to perform a search of refrigerator shops in my area, browse through them, make notes (mental or otherwise) of their prices and estimated delivery times, and then make a decision based upon my research. All of this I can accomplish from the comfort of my desk at home, because all of this information is stored on the Web, mostly as text. As a person, I can read this text and make sense of it. But what if a computer could 'read' and understand all of this content? This is the idea behind the semantic web. (Curtin, Tama Lever, 2010)

Laura: I watched an interesting YouTube video titled “Intro to the Semantic Web”. An interesting vision of what the Semantic Web “could” become and an explanation that I thought quite interesting. YouTube embedded video Url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg&feature=player_embedded

I also came across another video about Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and the progression to Web 3.0 on YouTube url: Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsNcjya56v8&feature=related that I thought was also interesting an related to what we have been reviewing.

Reading - The Semantic Web

Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J. & Lassila, O. (2001), 'The Semantic Web' Scientific American Magazine, May 2001, Vol. 284 Issue 5, p34.

Extract from reading:

THE SEMANTIC WEB

A new form of Web content that is meaningful to computers will unleash a revolution of new

Possibilities

The entertainment system was belting out the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" when the phone rang. When Pete answered, his phone turned the sound down by sending a message to all the other local devices that had a volume control. His sister, Lucy, was on the line from the doctor's office: "Mom needs to see a specialist and then has to have a series of physical therapy sessions. Biweekly or something. I'm going to have my agent set up the appointments." Pete immediately agreed to share the chauffeuring. At the doctor's office, Lucy instructed her Semantic Web agent through her handheld Web browser. The agent promptly retrieved information about Mom's prescribed treatment from the doctor's agent, looked up several lists of providers, and checked for the ones in-plan for Mom's insurance within a 20-mile radius of her home and with a rating of excellent or very good on trusted rating services. It then began trying to find a match between available appointment times (supplied by the agents of individual providers through their Web sites) and Pete's and Lucy's busy schedules. (The emphasized keywords indicate terms whose semantics, or meaning, were defined for the agent through the Semantic Web.) ...

The Mobile Web

Although web-enabled mobile devices and wireless connections have been commonplace for quite a while now, Apple's iPhone has thrust the idea of a truly mobile Internet into the public consciousness. Described as "the seventh mass media" (Ahonen, 2008), mobile devices have become ubiquitous in our society with some estimates putting the number of people who carry mobiles at 30% of the population. The combination of this mobility with 'smart phones' that can increasingly serve rich web content is bringing about a shift in our understandings of the degree to which the Internet can reach into our everyday lives.

The principal shift that mobile devices are bringing to the Web experience is that of localised content through location-aware GPS functions. With the added context of location, web-based applications are able to offer an augmentation of the real world by providing information that shifts as we do. More importantly perhaps, the collaborative culture of Web 2.0 and beyond can be further enhanced by this kind of location awareness. We have already seen the beginnings of this in geo-tagging, but the area is still relatively under-explored.
While the most obvious application of the mobile web is that embedded in devices that we carry with us, wireless technologies can theoretically be utilised to connect any electronic device to the Internet. The promise of smart appliances has been with us for quite a while (Who doesn't dream of owning an Internet-enabled Fridge?!), but with the growing availability of wireless access, we can expect to see growing inter-connectivity between (and access to) appliances. (Curtin, Tama Lever, 2010)

Laura: I thought this was an interesting angle and explanation concerning the mobility of the internet today. Although I cannot see carrying a fridge in my pocket as something of a revolutionary aspect, maybe a back breaking one...(joke) I find this future footstep interesting and I look forward to some sort of interactive bracelet that gives a holographic projection of the semantic web i.e. point and use!

In conclusion to this week AND the unit I watched all the videos:

Kevin Kelly, Web and Where: Web 3.0 (... the web that we have at the moment is less than 5000 days old ...T.V but better ...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J132shgIiuY&feature=player_embedded

Google Wave Overview: While Google's Wave was hailed as the next great thing in late 2009, it has taken a considerable time to become popular. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw&feature=player_embedded

Laura: I joined Googlewave, https://wave.google.com/wave/  it’s an interesting concept but you do need to have more than one person using it. I delegate this type of functionary tool as one that is best used as a communal one. For those that are using Internet Explorer it is necessary to download the Chrome Shell but be aware it might interfere with your web face and cause the browser to crash intermittently. It’s a tool best utilised with either Firefox or Safari (and yes, you do not have to be using an Apple/Mac computer to be able to use Safari as the browser integrates quite well across all platforms. I have found that both Fire fox and Safari are actually better and have greater stability than Internet Explorer. Keep in mind this is MY person view and opinion)

Activity:  Food for thought.....

This final week has given some ideas about future directions the web might take. Think about how your experience of life online might be different in five years time. What will Google (and its competitors) have to say about you at that time? WHAT DO YOU! THINK?