Tim O’Reilly, known for publishing the world’s first website and coining the phrase “Web 2.0,” Tim believes that Web 3 has a bright future, but that it is still a long way off. He also mentioned that it’s difficult to persuade someone of anything when the business gains are contingent on their believing in it. According to O’Reilly, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse are all highly valued, and the hype surrounding blockchain smacks of the dot-com bubble and fall.
Tim recalls the days before the web, when he used FTP and Telnet. Unfortunately, it was overpriced, and when the internet came along, it went bankrupt. While blockchain is intriguing, there isn’t much to it when you dig deeper, despite the fact that a lot of technical experts are working on it.
"It's very hard to convince somebody of a thing when financial gains depend on them believing in it," says tech luminary @TimOReilly, the publisher who coined the phrase Web 2.0, of web3 products like cryptocurrency and NFTs pic.twitter.com/i2pXR303hP
— Dan Patterson (@DanPatterson) February 7, 2022
According to Tim, Web 3 is the new decentralised web built on encryption and the blockchain. The name “Web 2” was invented by Tim 17 years ago, and it first surfaced after the dot-com crash. Web 3 may be described as a bubble, and we are now in the midst of it. It’s similar to the dot-com bubble in that there are a lot of initiatives and concepts being developed but very little product being delivered.