Web-IV is here. Yes, the messages of the past 6 months combined with the announcements of this past week have signaled that the evolution has completely bypassed Web 3.0 (I always hated that moniker anyway). The Web has skipped a generation.
So, what is Web-IV? Web-IV is the ultimate convergence:
- the Internet
- the Web
- the Mobile Web
- Cellular networks
- Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and their brethren
- content
- applications
- consumers
- producers
- enterprises
Obviously, the ultimate convergence is kind of a big topic. It’s much too big for a single post. So, this blog will be exploring the theme over the course of several entries to come. But first, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to take a moment to explain why I chose Web-IV as the name for this stage of the Web’s evolution.
I’m a firm believer in the power of symbolism and Web-IV embodies the ultimate convergence not only as the name that, as I said before, indicates that the Web has skipped a generation. But, delving deeper, let’s look at all the constituent parts of this symbol: Web-IV.
“Web” is the obvious part. It represents what we’ve come to understand as the world wide web in its first and second incarnations: dot-com and Web 2.0.
“I” stands for the Internet, which is the underlying networking infrastructure on top of which sits the web.
“-” symbolizes the expanded infrastructure that has evolved. This includes the cellular networks and the wireless technologies that untethers the web from its traditional edge: the desktop.
“V” indicates convergence, that all the various aspects outlined above are being brought together into a single, coherent whole.
And deeper still, the “IV” is a Roman numeral for the number 4. This is relevant for a number of reasons. First, the Roman numerals are used to further emphasize convergence, playing off the saying “all roads lead to Rome.” Second, the number 4 is a homophone of the word “for” and is commonly used as a shorthand in text messages and IM chats. Thus reading the phrase with the homophone, “Web for …” speaks to the unlimited possibilities of the ultimate convergence.
Now that we’ve named the phenomenon, soon we’ll explore the phenomenon itself.
