The Evolution Of The Internet

A recent piece in Smashing Magazine takes a big-picture look at the questions currently driving the discussion of what the future evolution of the internet entails, and at some of the innovations that we can expect to see expand in the opportunities and implications they represent to industry and individuals in the not-so-distant future. While the article offers an in-depth analysis into these issues; we’ve culled some of the key subjects below:

• Security: The ‘open web’ will allow for innovation, information and expression to run free – but raises security and appropriateness concerns. Potential security solutions may involve social structures of web users who collaborate on solutions to online security issues, or for companies to liaise with international governmental bodies to form an international online security council. The future of the internet may also see the formation of an independent, democratic, grassroots-level organization empowered by digital security experts, designers, and programmers to combat hackers, innovate on security technology, write manifestos for online behavior, and set an example through positive and supportive life online.
• Freedom: Will the web remain neutral and content equally accessible to all users? And will any proposals for at-a-premium fast lanes into the web be rejected?

The World Into the Web:

• Will programs and applications be folded into the browser, allowing for seamless access to content?
• The internet as an extension of the collective human mind, where the collective human consciousness is centralized in one location (a computer) and globally accessible (to anyone that can access the internet on a PC, phone, tablet, etc.)

The Web Into the World:

• The Internet of Things: the implications of having so many physical objects have a corresponding existence online present opportunities for nature conservancy, pet ownership, the health segment, and safety/security, among others.
• Interactive landscapes: from QR codes on buildings, to billboards that make target suggestions upon recognizing your identity, there will be a fine line between valuable, interesting content/suggestions and annoying, constant intrusion.
• The Innerweb: Implanting internet-enabled microchips and devices into the human body presents opportunities for the medical industry to help individuals improve or restore their vision, control their heart rates – and even to fight kidnappings and ensure that future ‘missing’ individuals can be found.
• The Million Dollar Question: Can the internet be used to improve the world? Can it facilitate arriving at a solution to resolve climate change, to generate tangible matter – or to facilitate time travel?

[via Smashing Magazine]