The Dominant Trend of CES 2008 - Introducing Web 3.0

CES 2008 was a little bit different. One would predict that perhaps it was all about ultra-high resolution peak-quality plasma and LCD monitors or some life-changing gadgets that act as robots and help the user accomplish redundant tasks (what about a particular home appliance robot?). Even if these would be educated guesses, they'd be quite mistaken. The dominant trend of CES 2008 spun around Web 3.0.

What a shocker, right? Yet another "version" of the Web, you might question sarcastically. You see, that's the beauty of it. Web 3.0 means so much, it has become omnipresent lately; it pops up in discussion in both online message boards and real-world tech conferences, and yet nobody knows what it really is. A lot of professionals in the field have their own definition of Web 3.0.

We've finally arrived at a time where the Web is starting to earn respect. The Web is everywhere. Every gadget and consumer electronic device or product should have access to the Web. The importance of having access to the Internet seems to be crucial. It could really reach a state where a temporary loss of connection would result in a life-threatening situation or loss of millions of dollars.

Almost none of the companies that exposed their visions of future products and excerpts of their forthcoming development ideas this year forgot to include Web support. Sure, there were dozens of ingenious viewpoints on how to approach and accomplish that task but the bottom line was being connected to the Internet. Nobody can deny that the Internet is so widespread it controls our lives. It's like electricity.

Before we get heavily involved in the definition of Web 3.0 (there isn't any definition), let's glance over at some of the Internet-related devices that were unveiled at CES 2008. Here we will cover mostly portable gadgets with Internet connections. Professionals in the field figured out that there's a lack of competent gadgets with access to the Web. Cell phones aren't satisfying enough due to the increased difficulty of surfing, nor laptops thanks to their high dependence on battery power. 

Are you curious about what the key people of this generation's consumer electronics industry and IT proposed? Now we are going to cover the viewpoints of Paul Otellini (CEO of Intel Corp.), Jerry Yang (CEO of Yahoo! Inc.), Bill Gates, a little bit of Google (notable by its absence), and Brian Roberts (Comcast Corp.). If you're curious... just turn the page.

Next: The Proposals >>
 

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