The second decade of the 21st century is a period of very rapid development in the field of communication technology and the Internet. More and more people have access to a very fast network, and sales of smart phones are growing every year. As komputerswiat.pl predicts, citing a study by Reuters, over a billion smartphones will be sold already in 2014 [1]. This result will be more than a half better than in 2011. A dozen or so years ago, we were surprised to see a person who used a mobile phone, now we are surprised by someone who does not have such a device. The young generation cannot imagine functioning without a computer and the Internet. He uses technology at every step – when studying, organizing time, doing shopping, culture and relaxing. Their grandparents, on the other hand, could not imagine such a thing as the Internet. The world is changing and is focused on the speed of access to information. Will modern media find a place in the future and what will it look like? Will there still be traditional journalists and editorial offices?
What will the internet of the future be like? Web 3.0 is coming
The third generation of the Internet (web 3.0) are still plans and concepts, which, however, are slowly being implemented. These are intelligent programs that will catalog information even more thoroughly, promote unique content, and reject everything else. Next-generation websites will be able to recognize our intentions. They will understand the context of the entered information, analyze the meaning of the whole sentences. They will distinguish between a metaphor, a serious statement or a joke. From among hundreds of articles, they will choose the one they consider to be the best and the one they will promote to users.
It is intelligent programs that will take over the role of information gatekepers that journalists and publishers now play. As Freek Bijl, author of the web 3.0 blog, explains:
“Imagine you are collecting stamps. You have a lot of them, and using Google you are trying to find one that you have in mind. If you type the “red mark” you will find hundreds of thousands of pages where someone once used the term, but not that particular stamp. The new network will create a database collection for each word we enter. By analyzing the connections, context and structure, we can easily find what we want ” . [2]
Posters with codes instead of store shelves, advertising billboards greeting us by name, artificial intelligence in every home device. This is not a script of a science-fiction film production. This heralds the era of intelligent Internet. More and more home appliances are equipped with wireless Internet access. Printers, telephones, TV sets and even refrigerators already use the network. But that’s just the beginning. One of the concepts of the future network is free communication of all devices and analysis of what is happening in the environment. Marta Strickland, social media strategist at Organic advertising agency in San Francisco, says:
“Search engines will understand the user perfectly, they will know who he is, what he did before and where he would like to go now. They will be much smarter.”
When one of the household members returns home, special sensors recognize his face and greet him by name. Moments later, guided by his taste and similarities, they will adjust the appropriate temperature, light intensity, and turn on their favorite music. Depending on our mood: melancholic or energetic. In the kitchen, our virtual trainer will develop an appropriate diet. It will take into account our health, physical activity, well-being, time of day and time of the year. The refrigerator will never run out of products, because their quantity will be monitored on an ongoing basis. As stocks wear out, the computer will place an order for them well in advance. Systems for lighting and climate control in the apartment are already available on the Polish market. But comfort costs money.
The package, which includes a touch screen LCD monitor, intelligent lighting of the entire apartment, and an air conditioning controller costs over PLN 30,000. As Jenny Williams, a lecturer and specialist in internet marketing noted:
“Each of us has encountered a problem in finding information, which is billions. Machines have a similar problem. Web 3.0 will check our interests, purchase history, visited pages, favorite programs to clarify what we mean, eg. We need an intelligent tool that will understand the context of our words and needs. Web 3.0 gives us all of that. ” [4]
The ability to understand our needs opens up a number of technology development opportunities. If the Internet user searches for additional information about the accident, the search engine will be able to match hundreds of different keywords to the most relevant content. Web 3.0 can look even more interesting in our home. If we come back from work after a hard day’s work and we forgot that we were supposed to organize a party – that’s fine. Just enter the appropriate sentence on the web. In the world of Web 3.0, the program will find our friends, by analyzing information about them, choose the best place to have fun, negotiate a suitable date and book a place. Then, using the GPS system in the phones, the computer will inform us how many of the invited guests have already appeared at the party. They will have the opportunity to evaluate the place, the entire event, and each participant. This technology already exists.
Each smartphone owner can upload the FourSquare or Google Places application, and will see a map on which our friends equipped with the same system are marked. Using this technology, we will see the opinions of friends about a given place, as well as find out where they are currently staying, what they are doing. Phones can spy on us, and they do. The systems are able to inform our friends that we have gone for a walk or jog. They will then post a map of our route, statistics on our achievements on the social network, and invite others to join. With one button, or with prior consent, our virtual trainer will automatically post on our blog how many calories we have burned or our overall achievements. In the world of web 3.0, we will create virtual spaces around us, choosing together with our friends what is most appropriate for us. Special programs will help us select and organize messages.
Not only the immediate surroundings will be able to react to the change in our well-being. It is enough to leave the house to come across billboards that recognize who is looking at them, what their mood is and how they are dressed. Depending on what they register, they will display an appropriate ad. This technology is already working on the streets of several cities around the world. In the USA, as part of an advertising campaign, owners of Mini Cooper cars were asked to complete an online survey. They also received information about intelligent billboards and the places where they are to appear. After giving the answer, the drivers received key rings by mail, in which information about them was encoded. As a result, when such a driver passed the advertisement, its content changed. The billboard could greet the owner of the Mini Cooper by name or praise its appearance. The owner of the car could really feel special. And that’s what the campaign’s creators wanted. [5]
Another example of structured database technology that is the starting point for web 3.0 is the idea of the Home Plus market. At the beginning of the year, in the capital of South Korea, the Tesco market Home Plus opened its first virtual store in a metro station. On the walls of the waiting room, photos of several hundred products were hung, imitating traditional shop displays. Each of them had a code that could be scanned with a smartphone to add to the virtual basket. After paying the bill (also via mobile phone), purchases are delivered straight to the homes of Seoul customers. As we can find out from the advertisement of the store on Youtube: “South Koreans spend a lot of time at work and don’t have time to go shopping. We want them to be able to relax after work and not waste time going to the store ”[6]. The idea turned out to be a bull’s eye. The company boasts an over 130 percent increase in sales, and the idea finds followers. This way of shopping can also be done by the inhabitants of Shanghai and Beijing.
