The future of the internet

[Esotera]

The internet has changed by an incredible amount over the last 20 years alone. It's moved from being mainly a useful tool for research/dedicated geeks to something that the majority of people use daily. 10 years ago the majority of the internet was just text laid out with a few pretty pictures, now we have beautiful sites with fancy graphics, and you can stream billions of videos in real time. Policy makers are also paying a lot more attention to the internet, with bills such as SOPA and PIPA being fairly recent examples.

So what do you think the internet will become in five, ten, twenty, or any number of years into the future? What will the majority of people be using it for? Will there be new features, like widespread digital currency, and will we still have Adobe Flash, HTML, or will new and better technologies displace them?

 

[The .50 Caliber Cow]

I predict it being restricted heavily then freed when everyone picks up a torch to regain their ability to get porn post a video on their facebook of their little kids dancing to music without getting their asses sued off for not having permission to have that song in the background.

Or maybe we'll get to the point where pirate internet sources are so easily available that it won't matter. Kind of doubt it though.


[sub][sub]Moo! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FavUpD_IjVY&feature=related][/sub][/sub]

 

[DoPo]

10 years ago the majority of the internet was just text laid out with a few pretty pictures

No, 10 years ago the Internet was pretty much as it is today. Increase in people's connection speeds allowed for larger stuff to be put there. However, 10 years ago the same stuff were less wide-spread.

Also, you're talking about the World Wide Web, which is part of the Internet but not the whole of it.

now we have beautiful sites with fancy graphics

CSS, a.k.a. that which makes the websites beautiful and the graphics fancy, has been around for more than 10 years. Web designers have been around for more than 10 years, too. Hence, beautiful websites and fancy graphics aren't that recent.

But you can thank Microsoft, and Internet Explorer in particular, for not having more beautiful websites. IE 6 is the worst offender but only because people still use it today. But the IE6 users have finally started to decline for the past couple of years, if I'm not mistaken.

and you can stream billions of videos in real time

Again, increase in people's connection speeds. It's not that it wasn't possible.

So what do you think the internet will become in five, ten, twenty, or any number of years into the future?

Nobody knows. We have vague-ish predictions about five years but 10 and beyond are just too far ahead. Ten years ago, Facebook wasn't really dreamt of. Who knows what the next huge hit would be. Who knows what the next piece of technology would bring to the table.

What will the majority of people be using it for?

Same as today? Entertainment and work, mostly.

will we still have Adobe Flash, HTML, or will new and better technologies displace them?

HTML is sort of on its way out. XHTML is generally preferred. And there is HTML5 which is still in development (so to say) but sees more and more use, even unfinished. I think I remember Adobe saying they will abandon Flash in favour of HTML5 videos. But HTML is staying in one form or another. Even if replaces with something totally new, chances are that the new technology will still be called HTML after it's predecessor.

The semantic web will see rise in it's use. Just a couple of weeks ago, or so, Google acquired a company that dealt with semantic web search and now the Google results started enhancing the normal search with semantic one. The thing will go big since Google picked it up. At the very least it provides new exciting opportunity for SEO.

 

[Esotera]

No, 10 years ago the Internet was pretty much as it is today. Increase in people's connection speeds allowed for larger stuff to be put there. However, 10 years ago the same stuff were less wide-spread.

Also, you're talking about the World Wide Web, which is part of the Internet but not the whole of it.

Eh, I remember there being less images. Design of websites has certainly come on since then. And I didn't mean to restrict the discussion to websites, just thought most people wouldn't use IRC etc, so used the most common example.

But you can thank Microsoft, and Internet Explorer in particular, for not having more beautiful websites. IE 6 is the worst offender but only because people still use it today. But the IE6 users have finally started to decline for the past couple of years, if I'm not mistaken.

Proof there is a God.

and you can stream billions of videos in real time

Again, increase in people's connection speeds. It's not that it wasn't possible.[/quote]
Well it wasn't possible for most people, so we didn't have any major sites for it (at least that I remember). It'll be interesting to see what the next youtube turns out to be.

 

[tomtom94]

Essentially I think that for all their threats the music industry knows they can only feed us so much bullshit and they will never quite stop piracy so the internet won't be China-style restricted.

I can see a greater law enforcement presence on the internet to help shut down definitive breaches of the law however (I'm taking it as read that piracy will eventually become a non-issue, I mean more things like child porn and drugs).

Who's to say what will happen long-term though? We're just waiting for the next Facebook to come along and revolutionise things; that paradigm shift that will change the internet as we know it.

 

[nccish]

If we look at where the trend is going right now we can almost safely say that people are going to be connected all the time! I don't know in what form though. Maybe we'll all have chips implanted in our heads from birth that allow us to experience everything online in our minds, or we'll have holographic projector-type things that will allow us to project a screen in front of us.

When it comes to websites I personally believe that they are close to hitting their peak. Sure, there are more things to be done when it comes to interactivity and design but I still think that websites as such are at the end of their evolution and will be replaced by something else as technology advances. What that could be I have no idea. It's too abstract for me to even ponder right now! Just a personal opinion of course!

 

[Mayhemski]

10 years - More walled gardens and the return of the portal idea. Think the Apple model. Google will still be the biggest advertiser on the planet followed closely by Facebook or whatever replaces it as the new big thing.

But honestly I doubt much will change from now and then, HTML may just be about ready to sign off on the official spec...maybe.

The biggest change to the internet will come if Wi-Max gets off the ground properly and frees up the industry from the dependency on cables and holes in the ground. Till then it will look very much as it does today.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I don't think it would change that much other than the visual aka webpages and the video quality will be different. Also the speed would increase but not by alot.