Unveiling Web 4.0 – Shhhhh

Here at Inkling Media we try to keep our finger on the pulse of emerging technologies. While the rest of the digital world is focusing on the imminent arrival of Web 3.0, we’re skipping right over that and are proud to introduce Web 4.0.

While many are still trying to wrap their minds around Web 3.0 (I’ve seen demonstrations of what 3.0 will be like, and yes, the semantic web is pretty amazing), I’m going to let you in on a little secret and give you a sneak peek at our proprietary technology: Web 4.0.

Web 4.0 is a fully-integrated sensory experience. It is a convergence of the virtual and actual realms, raising SEO, link building, and Inbound Marketing to new levels. As a teaser we have one example here. Ladies & Gentleman, I give you Web 4.0: SSM – Scratch & Sniff Marketing.

Go ahead, scratch the images below on your computer screen and experience the future of the Interwebs.

Oh, I forgot to mention that if you don’t have our special Web 4.0 enabled PCs, you won’t get the full effect. But imagine the possibilities. The smell of coffee or bacon seeping from your Google SERP, filling your room with that unmistakable goodness. No amount of metadata or artificial link building can outdo that! If you have a coffee shop, the best smelling and tasting coffee will rise to the top. New car smell? We’ve got it!

And no longer will we have to ask, “Is there an app for that?”. No apps…it’s all built in!

Well, we can dream can’t we? When I was in college back in the (mumble mumble mumble) I took a computer class: Fortran. We used a rather large stack of punch cards to perform simple math equations. And just five years ago we never could have imagined where we are now on the Internet.

My point? Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, we have no excuse but to think well beyond the box. Today’s “normal” was the “impossible,” or at least the “implausible” of two years ago.

As you interact on the web, engaging customers and potential customers, we can’t be inhibited by what we believe are the constraints. All the building blocks are there. It’s easy to get comfortable with the “here and now” and what works, but in 2010 there will be even greater changes. Those of us involved in Social Media marketing have a chance to really make our mark…if we stick our necks out and advance our field.

If what Robert Scoble predicts is true; that 2010 is the year SEO isn’t important anymore, then Social Media takes on a more prominent role in terms of Inbound Marketing and how people find you on the web.

Maybe it’s not scratch ‘n’ sniff, but next years “normal” is probably “inconceivable” right now. How cool would it be if one of us was the one to make that step forward?

How are you thinking beyond the box? Beyond believable and conceivable? I’ve got some ideas I’m working on, and hopefully at least one of them pans out…

Tagged as: Marketing, Scoble, seo, Social Media