Web 3.0

This blog entry got me thinking: just what do I want the computerverse to do for me?

Some thoughts:

• GUIs - a 2.5D visual + speech alternative: no monitor required, ideally
  
• crashes - failure should be graceful, biologic-like
• cost - a fixed price subscription, UK TV licence style
• malleable - a user-centric meta-config that "just works"
• not just my (sometimes perverse) slave, but my (usually trustworthy) servant: a cyber PA.
  

At some point there is going to be a melding of the web and robotics. That will be a true revolution (unlike web 2.0) - not because of the robo-dog fetching the newspaper sort of thing, but because of the processing paradigm shift it will force upon us programmers.

Currently, every bit is vital. A single error in the reading or processing of anything usually results in a program crash. This makes the current computerverse incredibly fragile (only barely 'fit', in an evolutionary sense). It's also one of the major problems robotics seeks to overcome.

Data from physical sensors is inaccurate. Precision comes from the statistical
processing of the output of one or more sensors over a period of time. Us programmers are going to have to learn to manage vast datasets, every single member of which has to be treated as erroneous.

But the payoff will be huge. The web and the computer will become "just another social contact". Instead of thinking "what application can I use to...?" I can concentrate on the task at hand, expecting the software to adapt-and-learn as we go.

An OOTOMH example:

When visiting a strange town, Web 2.0 enables me to view a map of the place, overlay it with the locations of any local Balti restaurants, and check for any comments thereon by previous patrons. Web 3.0 would avoid the GUI-gumph. "Book me a Balti by taxi for 8:30-ish, budget £50" would suffice. Your personal cyber-PA would automatically "ring round" the best reviewed spots concentrically, having first checked the menu for options you like or haven't tried yet etc. When you've done, it will ask for your opinion of the meal, the decor, etc.

Attractive thought... and a dangerous dependency!