For several years now we've been immersed in what technology experts have dubbed Web 2.0, the second revolution in the World Wide Web. Web 1.0 introduced static content, pages where you simply read what was posted. You could go to the website for an auto manufacturer to get the specs on a car you were thinking about purchasing. With Web 2.0 you can design your own vehicle, customize it to your specifications, and e-mail the configuration to a local dealership for a price quote. The major Web 2.0 applications — eBay, Wikipedia, Craigslist and many others — are websites you can interact with. You can sell off your mom's Hummel figurines, post an obscure piece of history of which you are the world's leading expert, search for a new squash partner, or make free phone calls to your long-lost cousin in Europe.
For those of us with disabilities, we've been able to collaborate at an unprecedented level through sites like Newmobility.com, CareCure at sci.rutgers.edu, Paralysis.org, MSworld.org and several others. Community forums, chat rooms and blogs regularly connect me to thousands of other people with similar disabilities. In real life I live in Denver, which is a fairly major city, and I have three or four friends with similar disabilities. That's a very small number from which to solicit advice.
So what do you do if you need advice about buying a new wheelchair, or which local restaurants are accessible, or you just want to vent about the guy in the Corvette who parked way too close so you couldn't deploy your ramp? You jump online and get instantly connected to thousands with a similar story that you can laugh at. Personally, I like to keep a top-five list posted of the most "interesting" health-care aides I have had or heard about. Right now they include a former female power lifter, a guy who works as a psychic in his spare time, a woman who grew up on a commune in France, a woman who can only come six days a week because she has to spend Saturdays in jail, and the guy who is sending money back to Africa for his 24 children, but I digress. ...
Today the Internet offers all sorts of interactive applications. You can play live games (pogo.com), create a spreadsheet or presentation without owning Microsoft Office (docs.google.com), video conference with anyone in the world (skype.com), and do just about anything else you can think of, all for free, although you do have to look at a lot of annoying advertisements. Internet rule number one: if they want money, keep looking, you can probably find it for free.
So what will the next version of the Internet bring?
We are in the in the midst of the MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube revolutions, the third, ninth, and 10th most visited websites respectively, according to hitwise.com. Twitter.com seems to be the start of the next revolution, which allows you to let the world know what you are doing at any given time through micro-blogs or text messages. This is one of the fastest-growing sites on the Internet, but to be honest, I haven't quite figured out how to use it. I guess I'm just not that big of a deal, because my friends aren't demanding to know what I'm doing every second of every day.
What's coming next, in my opinion, is more of the same. But that's a good thing! More free applications to replace software you're paying for now, more social networking sites to engage kids and drive parents crazy, a more interactive, graphics-rich experience, and more streaming media, on demand. There's a heated debate among the technology aristocracy. Many of these people talk about the semantic or intelligent Web, where a touch of artificial intelligence will perform searches more relevant to what you are looking for and serve up content without your having to ask.
One thing's for sure, Web 3.0 is coming, but no one can tell you exactly what it will look like until it is here.
P.S. Send an e-mail to me at justin.moninger@gmail.com of your favorite disability websites and I'll post a list on Newmobility.com.
