Woodkirk Stone
Elon Musk said he believed “nothing could be crazier than 99”.
With the rapid evolution of technology, there is a new term, a new concept that emerges from time to time. One of them is “Web 3.0” or just “Web3”. Some see it as the future of the internet, for others it’s just another buzzword that has gained prominence without due diligence. Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk appears to be siding with the second group of people. Responding to a Twitter thread recently, he said Web3 “looks like BSâ€. Web3 understands the metaverse and blockchain technology where computer programs run on networks of millions of computers.
Along with that “BS” statement, Musk also said he believes “nothing could be crazier than ’99”. Its reference was to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and the explosion in blockchain technology that is happening now. As is often the case with Musk, it’s unclear why he decided to move away from the technological advancements of the World Wide Web or to prefer the Internet as it is today.
Musk made his point clear when commenting on a Twitter thread from fellow U.S. entrepreneur and investor Sam Altman, who suggested Web3 “may still have similar returns to the 2010s” and warned against undue expectation of His part. His position was that the returns on investment in Web3 would not be much different from those achieved in the 2010s.
Also, let me simplify it a bit and suggest that web3 might still have similar feedback as it did from the 2010s.
(But most VCs will miss it.)
– Sam Altman (@sama) December 1, 2021
However, Musk was not amused.
Web3 sounds like bs
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2021
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX doubled down on his cynicism in another tweet.
I thought nothing could be crazier than ’99
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2021
When the first phase of the Internet was launched in the 1990s, it was not interactive and users had few options. The Web1 era saw the birth of companies like Yahoo, eBay and Amazon, as well as the advent of websites and blogs.
By giving consumers more freedom and convenience in the second phase, the internet has become much better in terms of user experience. During this Silicon Valley centric period, social media platforms and content sites like Facebook and YouTube appeared.
The third phase is hailed as a leap forward from the second, when developing technologies were to integrate and democratize the Internet. Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and blockchain are examples of some of these advancements, while others are still in their infancy but are increasing rapidly.