Future of the Internet

After seeing videos of the future of the Internet by my lecturer in class, I cannot help but wonder, what will the Internet be like 10, 50, 100 years down the road? I did a little more research on my own and found that the future of the Internet is a major European initiative as seen in the video below:

Future Internet from KMi on Vimeo.

"More than 1 billion users of mobile phones already have access to the Internet and this number will grow to 4 billion in the next few years" In the future, I see the whole world being interconnected via mobile devices. In the future, everyone, even those in rural areas, would have access to the mobile phone as that would be the primary device through which we communicate and carry out tasks on a daily basis.

"... As the Internet becomes the fundamental economic instrument"
In the future, consumers and businesses rely strongly on the Internet to function. Without the Internet network system, the world would not be able to function. Consumers will buy their daily necessities online and have them delievered to their doorstep daily via a sophisticated delivery system, operated by the Internet. Businesses would become ultra efficient with the future Internet and there might be no need for 5-day work weeks in the offices anymore due to flexible work arrangements made possible with Internet mobile technology.

"We are preparing for a web of things. All electronic devices will be active participants in the future Internet"
In the future, every single device would be connected with one another. Think of how your refrigerator would be connected with your bank account such that payment for goods and services becomes super speedy. Or how about cars and machines being monitored directly via the Internet? That would be a major benefit for companies!

"User genereated information will grow significantly and will be a driving force in the future Internet"
In the future, there would be no more Web 2.0. In the future, the semantic Web takes over. There will be fewer barriers for businesses, social networking and other activities on the Internet. Every single one would be activitely participating in the future Internet.

"We must imagine future Internet as a service. Mobile, ubiquitous and pervasive"
In the future, networks will be re-engineered in order to make all devices connected with one another, which increases the efficiency of the Internet for businesses and other services available. The future Internet will be 24/7, we would use the Internet more than we are using it now and it will become an indispensable part of our daily lives.

"Secure... efficient... interoperable, coherent, consistent, scalable, pervaise and reliable, these services will be networked together in the future of the Internet."
In the future, the Internet will be amazing. All these services will be networked together to provide all users around the globe with a strong network to base their activities on.

"Our future of the Internet relies on a global collaborative effort" In the future, no one gets left behind. There would be no more digital divide across the globe. In the future, everyone's lives would be improved because of the advancement of the Internet.

How long would this vision take to come true? We can only wait and see but I am surely excited to witness the advancements of the Internet in the years to come!

Some awesome websites

The Internet has been with us for many years now and it has grown to encompass virtually anything you can think of. From online references to games, social networking sites to e-learning sites, you can imagine how many million websites are out here. Today, I am going to share with you some of the websites I personally find interesting. So, here goes:

The Slightly Warped Website- The Crap Factory
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This is actually the first interesing website that I came across when I was younger and I have kept it in my bookmarks ever since! It was a website introduced to me by a friend when I was bored. The website provided me with a lot of fun facts such as getting to know about the sky dining concept in Europe, interesting signboards I never knew existed and other plain unusual or weird facts.

Websites for a cause
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I find it interesting that there are many websites out there that are created by people out of a good will. For example, the website links above have donation links for the recent Japan Tsunami disaster. This shows that the Internet has certainly been put to good use and it helps connect people all across the globe. People from all over are able to donate to Japan even though we are physically miles away. I definitely hope that these sort of websites continue to exist and even multiply, in order to better help those in need.

Omegle
Website link
I recently got to know of this website through a friend when, again, I was bored and did not know what to do. This is a website where one can randomly talk to and meet with strangers via instant messaging or webcam. The upside to this is that you get to meet all kinds or people and it helps to kill boredown. However, be warned that some people go onto Omegle with slightly warped intentions, such as looking for some "dirty fun". So, it can get irritating when you have to keep opening a new chat just because many of them are not there for the same reasons as me.

FML- Your everyday life stories
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This is a website that allows people to post "bad" stories about their lives, in other words, rant. Perhaps this can be an outlet for people to vent their anger or relieve tension that they are feeling, which can be therapeutic for some. Visitors to the site are also able to read the life stories of others, making it a site for some good laughter or identification, in a sense that they know that they are not alone when life gets tough.

These are just some of the websites that I have discovered over time that I find interesting. Hope you had a good read!

Online journalism to take over?

With the emergence of online newspapers, it has made me think about the differences between online and traditional, offline newspapers and by extension, offline and online journalism. Personally, I very much prefer the broadsheet version as it has always been the traditional form of publication and it is something that I am used to everyday.

Technology advances has made it possible for newspapers to go online now and I feel that it somewhat changes the experience of reading a newspaper. The laying out of the pages on the table and physical flipping of the pages of the newspaper is something that accompanies me on my daily breakfast munching. If traditional newspapers were to disappear one day, I can imagine life to be a little different without it.

What would online journalism do to traditional publishing houses? Will they be able to retain their jobs in the future? Will offline newspapers no longer be able to sustain themselves in the future because of online newspapers? In the future, perhaps 10, 20 or 30 years from now, online journalism could take over offline journalism, considering the rapid advances of the Internet and technology. I can even count myself as a journalist, a citizen journalist, now as I write weekly in my blog to provide information for people to read. Will journalists then be obsolete in the future with the advent of citizen journalism? Will the quality of online and offline content differ? These are just some of my many concerns of online journalism.

One major advantage of online journalism, such as online newspapers, is that it brings convenience, 24/7 accessibly and less intruding on-the-go readership (imagine the packed morning trains with people taking up more space with them reading the newspapers) for people.

The Internet has also provided those who lacked the capital and perhaps the chance to be a journalist to actually have a shot at sharing their views to the public. There are many people who became famous for their online blogs actually, such as Xia Xua and Dawn Yang, examples more close to our hearts here in Singapore.

Also, with upcoming web advancements such as the Web 3.0, online journalism could spell better interactively, informational access and other benefits that traditional print journalism could not bring. Online journalism could possibly better meet the intellectual and social demands of people in the future!

In addition, another upside of online newspapers is that it is eco-friendly as it does not require the use of papers to disseminate information. Given the state of environmental decline we are experiencing as a whole, it could be a good idea to cut back on cutting those trees.

As much as I would not want to see the demise of the traditional print broadsheet, the benefits of online journalism seem to be catching up and might be more relevant and attrative in the future. Perhaps after decades down the road, I could be sitting at the table, reading the news with my laptop in the mornings, muching away on my breakfast, instead of flipping through the pages of a newspaper!