The Fall and Rise of the Semantic Web

One day I’ll write a business book describing the key maxims that I’ve picked up over the course of my career and adopted as guiding principles. Probably right after I learn Japanese, publish my first novel, break par over 18 holes, improvise a six-part fugue on a theme by Klaus Nomi and win the world backgammon championship. In the meantime, I can always pontificate about these pearls of wisdom here on Peer Pressure.

One of my favorites is the tendency of technology hype to peak far too early, causing folks to write off promising trends years before their time. By the time the hype starts to crystallize into reality, no one is paying attention since they’re already concentrating on the latest flavor du jour.

A particularly poignant example is the semantic web. This was all the rage back in the late 90’s, but I dare say most tech watchers have forgotten all about it as they work themselves into an AJAX-fueled, contextual advertising-funded frenzy. Meanwhile, clear evidence of its imminent emergence is starting to appear, as described for example in a recent blog post by Tim Bray.

The main problem with initial efforts to add structure and semantics to the web is that they relied on a big bang shift in the way web content is created, with no incremental path to adoption. The inevitable result is a classic tech catch 22: no one wants to create content that can’t be consumed, and no one wants to invest in tools to consume content that doesn’t yet exist. Perhaps the biggest driver of the future semantic web will thus be RSS, especially to the extent that this can be abused as a blanket term that also encompasses the far more flexible (and far less yucky) Atom. By bringing structured content to the masses in a way that’s immediately useful, RSS opens the door for a parallel web based on XML, with all the exciting possibilities this implies for more intelligent web applications.

Microformats are another important step. The idea of dual-purpose content that can be processed by human brains while we wait for computers to make them irrelevant neatly solves the chicken-and-egg adoption dilemma.

Naturally we’re not there yet. Some sort of persistent client-hosted identity, for example, is a prerequisite for a true semantic web. And that still seems tantilizingly out of reach. But gadgetry like Techorati’s microformat search and Ray Ozzie’s brilliant Live Clipboard are clear signs that the tide is turning.

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5 Comments »

1. What will we get first, the semantic web or a more intelligent/better way of searching unstructured content?

   Comment by Mauro — 6/19/2006 @ 5:50 pm

2. Hey buddy

   Tell me you are so confused with lot many ideas why is that so? I am doubtful what we are gonna see first!Try to sort out your confusion

   Comment by Billy — 6/20/2006 @ 12:01 pm

3. Mauro - very good question. Probably improved methods for searching unstructured content are going to have the most influence initially, and I would anticipate an intermediate phase where this content is “given structure” algorithmically so that it can be queried alongside structured data. The long-term vision is thus of a hybrid solution, since unstructured data is unlikely to go away as long as humans are creating content.

   Comment by Matt — 6/20/2006 @ 8:04 pm

4. There is so much under the surface in this area. My gut feeling is that solutions will emerge which deliver on the promise of the semantic web but don’t go down the track that Tim BL has followed. I’m busy trying thing out myself and I have about a 10% grasp of the way ahead.

   While semantic web remains the preserve of computer scientists it’s going nowhere. It needs a better metaphor. The web is changing but I don’t think it will become the classic semantic web (if there is such a thing).

   Comment by Peter Hitchmough — 7/10/2006 @ 2:08 pm

5. you can easily create Semantic Web documents via the SIOC Project exporters - http://sioc-project.org/

   and also use the Semantic Web Ping Service - http://pingthesemanticweb.com

   Comment by Alex Piner — 10/9/2006 @ 1:38 pm

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