Final answer:
The 'web of today' (as of 2001) focused on user participation and consumption, while the 'semantic web' aims to structure and link data for machine processing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 'web of today' as of 2001, also known as Web 2.0, was characterized by the rise of user participation and the proliferation of social media. It focused on users interacting with the web and consuming content as consumers. On the other hand, the 'semantic web' is a concept introduced by Tim Berners-Lee that envisions a web where information is structured and linked in a way that computers can understand and process.
The semantic web aims to provide meaning to the data on the web, enabling better search results and automated data analysis. It involves adding additional metadata to web pages and using semantic technologies like RDF and OWL to create a network of linked data.
In summary, while the web of today (as of 2001) emphasized user participation and consumption, the semantic web focuses on structuring and linking data to enable machine processing and understanding.