The Future
of the Internet – Tamir Huberman 11/11/12
This is the
first article out of several planned in the predictions of the Internet related
technologies. While the movies constantly provide us with endless stream of
ideas in many different aspects of the future of technology it is a bit more
difficult to predict the actual future of a more specific realm like the
Internet.
It is no
secret that the internet has truly changed our lives. I can still remember the
time I had to physically travel to the US embassy and search for manuscripts
that are interesting in specific areas where at the time had no information
available in Israel. I remember sending out land mail to the US and receiving
physical copies from individuals. I have said on many occasions that the
internet was invented for people like me that had an endless desire for
information and so little to be found with a click of a button.
The
internet revolution was and is truly amazing and it comes today as no surprise
that the internet is the crucial technology of our time to distribute information.
So what is
the next evolution of the internet? How will the internet look in the years to
come?
This
article is one of several which will make an attempt to predict the evolvement
of the future internet technology and its impact on our lives in the future.
The
internet is a textual system that allows indexing and later searches of text in
almost any content type. This led to the formation of search companies such as
Google which allow access to almost any type of material with a click of a
button.
The amount
of information is growing at an ever increasing speed and companies that are
developing ways to cluster information have to constantly adapt to the huge
amounts of information that is out there.
If we look
at the current way we are used to view information it comes down to the
keyboard and mouse, lately some new touch screens which allow us to type into
the console and later the data is retrieved.
The aspect
I would like to touch in this article is the communication aspect. The internet
has generated Social Networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and many
others that allow surfers to connect together.
Predictions:
1. The future will
change dramatically the way we communicate over the web. Each one of us will
have his own Avatar (Avatar – is the word which describes your electronic image that represents and is
manipulated by a computer user as in a computer game).
2. Having an Avatar will completely change the way we communicate
and I would like to touch several aspects depicting the influence of having an
Avatar in a virtual world environment:
a. Having an
Avatar at work – all the business meetings with non-local (and later local) representatives
will be done via your Avatar. This will create an identity between the
different business partners and allow generation of quick rapport.
b. An avatar at
work will also allow generation of completely new jobs and actual physical
location will not be a must in many types of occupations. Since the physical
location of an employee will not be of importance the employee market will
change dramatically and an open global employees market will emerge.
c. An avatar in
Social Networks will allow generation of greater rapport between individuals
and will also allow choosing different Avatar for different environments. For
example: in the Business aspects one could choose an Avatar that is always
dressed elegantly and in the Social domain the clothing, age, sex could be
altered. Since the physical properties can be modified in the virtual world
creation of new jobs in this domain which will assist people in maintaining
various Avatars will be provided.
d. Healthcare – Doctors
could also have Avatars and since basic monitoring of the body could be done
either at home and in central locations the actual meetings with physicians
could be done in professional domains and people could choose physicians
worldwide in light of the fact location will not be an issue.
e. Schools and
Universities – The first to be influenced by this new revolution will be the Universities.
Students could choose learning in any place in the world and having an Avatar
would be a must in order to join classes in the Virtual University space with
Avatar teachers. This will increase the communications between students located
worldwide and Universities as we know them will disappear.
f. Searching for
materials – Since having an Avatar in the virtual world creates a more
realistic way to communicate the way we search the internet mainly via text
will change to speech. In addition technologies which will help in passing of movement
in more natural way to the virtual world will be developed and people will be
able to work full time in the virtual world.
g. Communication
on the phone will not take place and all communication will be via Avatars.
h. Transportation
and Cities – Since most of the professional life will take place in the virtual
domain the cost of travel will dramatically change and the whole concept of
cities will soon change. Living in cities which brought people together mainly
in order to find work will not be a must and people could live were they
desire.
I have
touch a lot of topics, each of which could be elaborated much more and my next
article on the subject will shed light on different aspects of this global
shift.
