What is Web 1, 2, 3? (Part 1 of 7)

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rippleventures

5 min readDec 8, 2021

0xIntro

We don’t need to repeat why crypto and web3 are going to be at the forefront of the next generation’s companies. We believe in it, and text our frens “gm” and “wagmi” every morning. We’ll cut the bullsh*t and get straight to the point.

It’s hard for the average person to understand what this noise is all about, so we took the initiative to write up a series of posts that dive into what’s actually inside the rabbit hole.

If you don’t know us already, Ripple Ventures is an early-stage venture fund looking to back extraordinary founders building market-shifting software tools. We’re focused on anything enterprise, creator, and developer-focused in web2 and web3.

This is the first of a seven-part series covering:

Up Next…

Next week, we’ll be launching our next post covering The Benefits and Drawbacks of Web 2.

Follow our Medium account and subscribe to our Substack to see it first!

Get in touch!

If you’re a founder building in this space and want to connect, please reach out to us using this link!

What is Web 1, 2, 3?

Web 1 (1980–2000)

The first wave of the internet started in the early 1980s, with the first computers being able to “talk” to each other with standardized protocols TCP/IP in 1983. Web 1 was focused on allowing consumers to read and view information online (think a newspaper company starting an internet page to allow a viewer to read the daily newspaper digitally).

| Web 1 was characterized by companies like Netscape creating static, read-only websites that consumers accessed.

Open and transparent protocols were great in theory but had a few key problems.

Technical: To take advantage of the open protocols on Web 1 (TCP, IP, SMTP, HTTP) you needed to have a fair amount of technical knowledge. This meant that the learning curve was higher for new internet users, and deterred non-technical users from participating.
Missing Gaps: The protocols in Web 1 didn’t cover things like search, payments, etc. which meant that there were key gaps that open, transparent protocols didn’t cover
Data Collection and Monetization: Web 1 protocols didn’t capture user data (“state”) which meant that experiences couldn’t be personalized (i.e. Amazon can’t recommend products you might be interested in, a Shopify store can’t save your shipping or payment history, etc.). The inability to collect user data also meant that the people who developed these protocols couldn’t capture the value of the applications that were being built on top of it.

Web 2 (2000 — Present)

The second wave of the internet started in the early 2000’s when private companies began to further build applications on top of the open protocols of Web 1 while also building private protocols to fill in the gaps that Web 1 missed (payments, search, etc.). Web 2 is much more interactive as users can consume content, but now also create, upload, and share their own content as well. An example of this would be Google and Microsoft building on the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) that was created in 1981 during Web 1 to create Gmail and Microsoft Outlook. While SMTP is open and transparent, Gmail and Outlook are both closed off and controlled by the two technology giants. Thus, in Web 2 users interact with software and protocols built by large technology companies even when they interact with Web 1 open-source protocols.

| Web 2 was characterized by companies like Facebook creating more interactive and dynamic web services where users could read and write content. However, tech companies began to collect, own, and monetize user data, marking a shift away from the open, transparent protocols of Web 1.

| Web 2 build on top of the open protocols of Web 1, aggregating user data and creating an easy-to-use, simple user experience. (Image Source)

Web 3 (2016 — Present)

Web 3, is the most recent phase of the internet that takes the best elements of Web 1 (transparent and open protocols) and Web 2 (ability to read and write dynamic content) and combines them together.

| The evolution to Web 3 (M13 Capital)

Comparing the Three

At its core, Web 3 aims to allow users to not only read and write content but also own their own content so that they can’t get de-platformed or demonetized by centralized tech companies. Web 3 also aims to revert back to the open-source protocols of Web 1 where the rules are standardized for all market participants so that large tech companies can’t stifle innovation and market competition.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any suggestions on edits or more content we should cover, please reach out to us at matt@rippleventures.com and dom@rippleventures.com