No one is entirely sure yet what will constitute Web 3.0.

According to the slightly unreliable Web 2.0 website Wikipedia, there are several theorems and proposals put forth by “web experts” and futurists.

Two that seem unlikely and/or unpleasant suggested either that it would be
A. A return of experts to the web, quashing unreliable data and insinuating their right to charge for reliable information.
Or
B. Something involving a meta verse of 3d imagery and holo decks using live cams placed around the world and a few more things too Trekkie for me to understand, but definitely candidates for causing widespread migraines and nervous breakdowns.

The thing that stuck out for me was the notion put forth by John Smart that it was going to be an evolution of geo-social apps like four square. Combined with that would be the notion, attributed to Conrad Wolfram, that it would come when the web begins generating its own data and catering to the user based on algorithms that indicate what you like.

Waze is a geosocial app, in real time 3d, that uses all the data out there about how fast cell phones are moving to generate the fastest route from point a to point b. it needs no algorithm to understand what you like, because it is universally assumed that every user wants the same thing…more time at their given destination and less time in traffic. It quickly learns the locations you travel to, and also learns from you if you stray off it’s suggested course and still get home on time.

Waze users can flag a speed trap or an object in the road, or an accident. This, sadly, may lead to yet another accident. Other users can give a little thumbs up to indicate that the tip was valid, or indicate that the nuisance ahead is no longer present.

Driving hazards aside, Waze is the most revolutionary app to arrive since google maps. Thanks to the network effect, it gets increasingly more astute and tuned in to your driving needs as time goes on.

I have yet to flag an incident in the roadway…mainly for fear of becoming one myself in the process. Gen Y folks are probably more comfortable taking their eyes off the road…I suspect they are the most dutiful citizens in Waze World.

Rather than try to outdo or crush Waze, I hope the would-be competitors out there will figure out how to create modules that you can install to narrow the purpose of your drive. Today at 2pm in the greater Los Angeles area 6,350 people were on Waze, all with a common goal of reducing their time spent in traffic. What if you could find all the Waze users who need a lunch date? Okay, that already exists in a static format (I am thinking of gay apps like Scruff, Grindr, and Growlr). But maybe it can integrate with your home security system and advise you to return home and call 911 because a burglar is stealing your iPad.

I don’t think I can single handedly dream up what Web 3.0 will be, but I think Waze is the first glimpse of the new future into which we are rapidly speeding.