The Web 3.0 Browsers
We posted an article not too long ago that attempted to clarify some of the nomenclature being tossed around lately about "the Web 2.0", and even "the Web 3.0". My goal in the article was to try and convey the ideas that people are talking about when they use these buzzwords, although it may have caused more confusion. At the very least, it seems to have at least sparked some passionate replies by a few visitors.
I wanted to follow that article up with a post about a web browser called Flock, as some of the things that make this browser unique help to really illustrate the differences in websites.
As mentioned in the article, the "read-only web" (1.0) describes most of the websites out there, in that their main purpose is to serve information to a user. Even though many websites have incredibly slick user interfaces, for the most part they still just deliver information. There are a lot of "read-write" (2.0) websites out there that allow users to post content, comment to each other, tag web pages, and share web content with one another. And then there are the "read-write-execute" (3.0) sites that provide web services, allowing for programmatic interaction with the website and the service that they offer. Flickr and Google Maps are great examples of this idea, where you can use their website if you like, but they also provide an API that let's users interact with the services via other applications.
So what's the point? Be patient, I'm getting there. First, go and download Flock and give it a test run. I'm not suggesting that you replace your favorite browser or anything like that. I haven't. But it's worth taking a look as it (to me) showcases the near future of web browsing in the age of social networking. To illustrate this, as well as tie this incoherent rambling into my point, let's look at a couple of features that Flock offers, as well as an available extension for the browser.
Not to plug Flickr too hard, but they have a wonderful photo sharing service that just happens to be coupled with an impressive API. To illustrate this, Flickr services have been implemented in the Flock browser. This means that you can view your friends photos, access your Flickr account, and even upload photos directly to Flickr through your browser, and NOT via a form on a web page. That's right, you can natively interact with Flickr from within the browser. While this might not seem impressive, it means that you don't have to navigate to a website anymore to use it's features. Simply click a button and the browser accesses the API, bringing the features of Flickr right to you. There is a lot of potential in this, I believe.
Another great feature of Flock is that it natively interacts with most of the popular blog platforms, such as WordPress. Again, what does this mean? Well, it means that after you provide Flock with your blog URL, username and password, you can post to your blog from within the browser. That's right. Once again instead of having to navigate to your blog, log in, and post via a web form, you can simply click one button in your browser and be typing your post. In addition, Flock has features for tagging web content, as well as automatically pinging various social networking sites (such as Technorati) when you post a new blog entry. I suppose the thing that really strikes me about this is that the browser now becomes the interface to much more than simply browsing ("read-only") websites, but extends it to being an interface with any web service.
Finally, while digging around and looking at Flock, I ran across an extension called Me.dium, which provides a service to look at what is going on behind the scenes with Flock. Sign up for an account, and Me.dium locates other relevant users to you (based on a series of criteria) and displays them. It's a bit hard to describe, but you can see what sites they are visiting and also chat with them. It allows people to essentially "surf" together, where a group of friends can follow each other from website to website, chatting all along the way. While I am not a big social networking person, I can understand the value of such a feature. Currently, the user interface for Me.dium is a bit rugged, so I would say that until they get an interface designer who can put an elegant face on the extension I don't see it going far. However, if the usability issues get worked out, I can see the potential for this type of feature.
Either way, my point in posting about Flock is that it represents a step by browser developers to address the changing landscape of the Internet. In addition, it really illustrates how a "Web 3.0" website is different from a "Web 1.0" and a "Web 2.0" website, in that providing a web service with a robust API allows for a more integrated user experience. There are many more features that I am not discussing here as well, including some great RSS, social bookmarking and content tagging features.
Also, Flock is not the only browser out there, as it seems that the Mozilla people will probably be looking to integrate many of the same features into Firefox. Apple usually keeps their Safari browser on the cutting edge, so I suspect that as certain features rise to the top we will see this kind of functionality creeping in to Safari over the next year or two. As for Internet Explorer, well... time will tell. Historically, Microsoft has been almost negligently slow in adopting new feature, typically favoring attempts to monetize free services and force users towards their own services. Let's just say I'm not looking to Microsoft to help make any of my predictions come true.
