At the SEOul Digital Forum recently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was asked to define Web 3.0.  After originally joking that Web 2.0 is simply a “marketing term”, he then said on a serious note that while Web 2.0 was based on AJAX, Web 3.0 will be “applications that are pieced together,” with the characteristics that the applications are relatively small, the data is in the cloud, the applications can run on any device (computer or mobile), the applications are very fast and very customizable, and are distributed virally (via social networks, e-mail, etc.).

So, what do you think Web 3.0 will be?  In order to form an opinion, you will first need to form your own definition of Web 2.0, which is essentially the 2nd generation of the world wide web. According to Wikipedia, Web 2.0 is defined as:

Web 2.0 is a phrase coined by O’Reilly Media in 2003[1] ( and later popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004[2]) in reference to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O’Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted.

To me, Web 2.0 has simply meant the next phase of the internet, where software is slowly moving to the web.   Web 3.0?  It is to early to tell, but it looks like better communication and tighter integration between our computer’s desktop and our web-based products (Google Gears has already gotten the balling rolling).  I think this integration will continue to extend to cell phones as well, allowing us access to our information from pretty much anywhere.

What do you think Web 3.0 will be?