So I decided to research our own pre-Xmas shopping binge habits here on the Emerald Isle.

Using Google Insights for Search and analysing data from Oct, Nov and Dec 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (Irish data only!), I made to the following fascinating findings as regards searches on Google in Ireland, which include the words “Buy Online”:

1. Sunday was overwhelmingly the biggest day of the week during the research period for Google searches which included “Buy Online”.
2. In each and every year studied, the first Sunday in December was the peak, followed by the last Sunday in November.
3. This year (drumroll), Ireland’s Cyber Sunday will fall on December the 6th. November the 30th will be Cyber Sunday 2.
4. Searches for “Christmas Gift” will grow throughout the first 2 weeks of December and then peak around about the 15th of December (there are no day of the week trends here). This is most likely people researching purchases online prior to consummating them offline.

3 other interesting facts about online shopping in Ireland:

1. In 2008 36% of Irish people made an online purchase. We are ranked 10th in the world for online buyers.
2. 54% of Irish consumers research offline purchases online first.
3. In 2008, only 20% of people said they would not use the internet for Xmas shopping at all.

So online stores, stock your shelves or prepare to drop-ship like Contepomi, Cyber-Sunday is trundling your way!

Hi and welcome to our post on the next big thing in the digital world, “Web 3.0″. Lets kick off by discussing it’s predecessors Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 According to Tim O’Reilly

The term Web 2.0 is most widely attributed to internet guru Tim O’Reilly.

Roving web reporter Kamla Bhatt caught up with Tim outside the jacks in McDonalds in Tim’s hometown of Youghall Co. Cork (or possibly at a conference in Silicon Valley).

Here’s a nutshell Web 2.0 definition from the man himself.

So Tim is emphasising Web 2.0 is about users, and the more users a platform has the better. I’m presuming the more the users “network” or “interact” with each other the better too.

Here’s a table, again from Mr.Tim, illustrating his thoughts on the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

The theme of Web 2.0 “interactivity” is very prominent in this table. We can see Web 2.0 is a move from static content to wiki’s, one-way informational websites to two-way interaction on blogs, file sharing, pay per click (action) advertising rather than simply page views.

I don’t think Tim will mind me adding the poster child for Web 2.0, “social networking” to his table. Social Networks are a cookie cutter fit for his definition in the above YouTube video of “the network as the platform, in which the users add value, and the database get better the more users that use it”.

Web 1.0 was Porn, Web 2.0 is Friends?

Such is the rise in use of social networks that in the US and the UK social networks have now overtaken adult sites as the most visited sites on the web. This is the first time any other type of site has overtaken adult sites in popularity in the history of the web.

Webs 1.0 & 2.0 Condensed Definition:

When you distill all the above info and opinion, you are left with what is my favorite explanation, which comes from Irish web virtuoso Damian Mulley

“Web 1.0 was about connecting people to the internet.

Web 2.0 is about connecting people to people via the internet.” It’s that word again: Interactivity!

Taking Damian’s lead I’d like to put forward:

Web 3.0 is about connecting people to the internet via mobile mediums. PC’s and Laptops for internet accessibility will become less prevalent as people connect to the internet via their mobile phones and other convenient, portable devices.

The new functionality of these mobile devices will revolutionise the web as we know and use it!

Web 3.0 Its Mobile! Some Facts:

Trey Harvin of dot.mobi presented the following stats at the IIA Congress 2009 in May.

• There are 4 mobiles phones are sold to every 1 PC sold.
• There are 3 billion plus mobile phones for 6 billion people worldwide.
• There are more mobile phones worldwide than PCs & TVs combined.
• There is more Internet access available via mobiles than PC.
• 1 billion plus people are connected exclusively to the mobile Web.

These figures show that the infrastructure for mobile phones, or “hand held internet devices” is already larger than the PC/Laptop infrastructure. Web 3.0 is not coming, it’s already happening!

Anybody who has tried to access the web from their phone via WAP knows it takes ages, looks crap and is frustrating to navigate. This however is changing as the next generation of phones, led by the IPhone are championing internet usability.

How does Web 3.0 Changes the Game?

Here’s the key capabilities of mobile internet devices (thanks again Trey).

Mobiles have key capabilities:

Fits in your pocket
Knows where it is
Has a browser
Is a camera
Is a video camera
Sends text messages
Can do micropayments
Sends email
Plays music
Plays videos
Interactive calendar/contacts

I have come across a number of new applications which make fantastic use of the new functions of Web 3.0:

1. Waiting for a bus? Pull out your phone, access DublinBus and see how long until it arrives.
2. Want to get in touch with a friend, group of friends? You can skype or facebook your friends for free (or next to) instead of calling or texting them.
3. Out and about and feeling peckish? Access a promotions site such as Ocode, which will tell you what cafes, restaurants and juice bars in your current location are offering promotions and discounts.
4. Likewise, IPub can map out what traditional Irish pubs are near your current location and you can read user reviews via your IPhone.

I’d love to hear of the cool applications of mobile applications that you are coming across, please comment away.

Conclusion

Web 3.0 is the wave of internet users who increasingly connecting to the web via mobile media. These mobile media offer a multitude of new possibilities. Convenience is the overriding theme here. After all, technology is all about making life easier!

An Alternative Vision of Web 3.0

Here’s a short and very insightful video on how Web 3.0 is going to “personalise” internet use.

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