The future of the Internet

[Chatmaster]

Dave's web 3.0 thread make me think of the future of the Internet in South Africa. Where would you say the web is heading?

Well here is my prediction for the future....

Currently the Internet is playing a huge role in communications, information, advertising and eCommerce. But it has the potential to grow much larger and certainly will. The Internet will become a lifestyle that will be shared amongst the entire population of the world. With mobile phones entering the internet market and making it easier to access the Internet, where does SA stand?

The Internet has become like a large city in a very short period of time. Already there are fridges that has the capability to order groceries when it runs out, LG Electronics was the first to roll it out. The Internet refrigerator can serve as a TV, radio videophone. How useful this fridge is atm is debatable as it is a bit before its time despite being rolled out 9 years ago.

Well there is also the Internet microwave that keeps your food cool until you tell it via the Internet to warm the food for you as you are on your way home. Will the Internet become such a big part of our lifestyle?

Then there is the future of TV and Radio, that should be high on the discussion as well. Just how practical is it to say that our existing TV and radio channels has allot to fear from the Internet? Well I would say very. What will the end result be once there are so many channels available that it is impossible for ICASA to regulate? Recently we had the "Do governments have a duty to censor internet content?" thread. Will the government interfere with the Internet and start legislation that manage what we can see and what not? I see allot of changes in the future, I see allot of concern for the freedom of the Internet.

What do you see in the future of the Internet?

[RKS Computer Solutions]

Comment on the future of the Internet in regards to TV and Radio:

I see the future of TV and Radio going the way of HD Multimedia lounge products, one example being the D-Link DSM-520 Wireless Media Lounge HD Media Player.

It is connected directly to your TV and to a broadband service provider and allows you view any channel in the world and listen to any radio station in the world via the internet, most cases the only cost involved is that of your broadband.

It can also stream videos, dvd's, pictures and audio from your network connected PC.

Comment on the future of the Internet in regards to Smart Appliances:

O swell, a fridge that will order me milk, if only I can find a place in SA that will actually accept communication from my fridge/microwave in order for it to magically apear on my doorstep... Ding Dong, "I'm coming", says the fridge...

[twinscythe12332]

My feelings on the internet is that we are no where close on tapping into its potential yet. sad to say, until we can get an almost uncapped connection for a decent price, we aren't going to reach that goal. with an average of a 3GB cap, and about a 512kbps line, I would honestly say we aren't going to reach our full potential for a while. some of the stuff I'd like to see become more important is using the internet for security. there are systems in place already, but I don't believe we've gotten quite there yet. by security, I mean systems that monitor your house, and are easily accessible over the internet for you to look at. the internet has a massive variety of different niches. social networking is still going to be climbing up. a way for teenagers and adults alike to meet without having to go to the local shopping centre is great, although it does detach people from society (*sighs heavily, thinking why he decided to become a programmer*). the future of wireless internet is pretty bright, and I believe that many people will be going the 3G/HSDPA route. internet based TV, unless you go with bad picture quality, requires high speed connections, along with copious amounts of data. with 10 minute you tube videos hitting 30-40MB a pop, it does add up. so I think that although there will be a market for it, that market is not going to increase drastically until we have better data rates. not to mention not everyone in SA who has a TV has a PC and internet connection.

[Chatmaster]

At least Durban has the Smart city project going for them. After a meeting with people involved with Durban City, I think you are living in a fine city. As far as I know CT also started rolling out their smart city project so hopefully the other cities will start roling out soon enough. That alone would make the Internet change its face in SA. Not to mention that the net is closing around Telkom pretty slow, but it is happening...

[Dave A]

I think Twinscythe raises an important point here - the carrying infrastructure.

I'd marked this thread as something to come back to once I'd chewed it over a bit - and my thinking was that the "problem" is how can we support all the different protocols over one connection channel. My thought was heading towards a separation of carrying mediums being on the horison, rather than the current move towards integration.

Of course, I see now that this is South African thinking as opposed to true internet thinking, driven by our substandard infrastructure that simply does not have the bandwidth to carry everything. Although I heard mention that there is growing concern in the UK that the traffic growth is going to outstrip carrying capacity there too in the not too distant future. But then, they do have internet TV and it is being used.

There is a substantial difference between SA and the UK/USA markets. They've got high capacity cable that was already there to carry TV - their internet has essentially climbed onto that existing signal carrier. Here, we don't have cable...

On internet trends for the future - in terms of scope I think it is going to be all-pervasive wherever there is communication.

Where website trends might go - I see more integration between what have up until now been separate sites. To some extent MS had an idea here with their passport account - essentially an ID that meant data learnt in one application can be drawn from and used when you visit another. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have broken the corporate barrier.

If you look at Google, they've started doing much the same. But once again it hasn't transcended the corporate boundary. Actually, it hasn't even got right across their own organisation. As an example, there is no linkage between your Adsense and Adwords accounts. Worse still, there can be a conflict out of this separate profile issue when you create your Google profile.

When someone manages to break the "entity" boundaries for carrying important core user data information - we're going to see a far more customised user experience as the browser moves from site to site.

For example, you won't have to keep on setting up user profiles at each site - you visit and your profile is automatically imported from information you've provided elsewhere. This is more than username, password and email type stuff - this could go down to established preferences, interests and reputation.

Ultimately, both scary and exciting!

[twinscythe12332]

Although I heard mention that there is growing concern in the UK that the traffic growth is going to outstrip carrying capacity there too in the not too distant future. But then, they do have internet TV and it is being used.

not only in the UK, everywhere

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...nization_N.htm

I seem to recall a particular email from the code project forum talking about how the infrastructure of the internet is going to need a massive increase in the backbones and architecture that drives it. I guess there is an issue with having uncapped 2MBps lines as a standard in the US and UK...

[duncan drennan]

When someone manages to break the "entity" boundaries for carrying important core user data information - we're going to see a far more customised user experience as the browser moves from site to site.

See OpenID (and on Wikipedia)

[twinscythe12332]

openID has me worried. what happens if someone gets a hold of your authentication data?

[Karenwhe]

Here is my 2 cents about this.

I agree about technology, there is another aspect to consider.......... about the future:

I have no predictions only a few observations. If one wants to make money in the future on the internet here is something to ponder about:

Go go alexa.com and compare the following sites: google.com facebook.com and myspace.com . Click on both max tab to Reach and Page Views. (also observe on the max the years).

What do you see?

Draw your own conclusions...... the world is changing right in front of our eyes, do we see it?

[Dave A]

Add youtube.com to that comparison list.

Wow!