The future of the internet.

[geokker]

Speculating with technology is fun. It's easy to get it desperately wrong too. I read an article about 'Web 2.0'. In a nutshell, the web will become like an operating system platform upon which 'fat' applications will be 'served' to fee paying users. Imagine Microsoft Office in it's entirety, piped through the internet. Setting up a new office could be instantaneous with basic PC's or leased kit - everything simply a terminal service session-like web app. Add to this telephony and data warehousing and it's a virtual business with a minimal asset/admin footprint.

An example scenario might be a graphic design studio. Each user could have a 30" monitor/thin client connected to the internet all supplied by the service company. All bitmap, vector and layout programs served from industrial-strength servers in a remote farm. Chuck around that gigapixel image with gay abandon - the processing is performed by a liquid-cooled monster cluster. Everything supplied and supported in one easy, scalable subscription fee. No more 'catch-up' with tech. No more waste. No more waiting.

Sun Microsystems got one thing right (which is amazing since they suck): 'the network is the computer' - at least, it will be.

What do you guys think the future web will be like?

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by geokker

What do you guys think the future web will be like?

Good question. I hope it stays "free"...or gets cheaper than today. I also hope it will be more accessible - I hate having to sit in front of my PC. I'd love to use a small hand-held PC, but can't afford one and the dial-up costs are prohibitive...

And I really hope we don't drown in spam...

[rockytriton]

until the patent and copyright laws are updated to more fit our modern world, I'm afraid the Internet will continue to be like the wild west.

[alexander]

Sun Microsystems got one thing right (which is amazing since they suck)

I wont get into this discussion, because my views of the net are a bit off from most others, but i had to comment here...
I know that you didn't just diss Sun, i know that you didnt, because you know Sun's amazing hardware, processor architecture and most of all, sponsored coding projects...

and rocky, until there are no more copyright(as in the law itself) and pattent laws, the internet for users, will be a wild beast!

[Buffy]

Without Sun, Unix would be nowhere. All the major Unix minis of the late 80s were basically copying Sun's success, and the explosion of that market forced DEC, HP and IBM kicking and screaming into releasing their own Unix boxes.

Do you hear me? No Sun, no Linux. Period! Stop yer whining!

Thanks to Bill Joy and Scott McNealy for making it all possible.

BSD forever,
Buffy

[alexander]

that was what my next post was supposed to look like Buffy, thanks for posting it....

[geokker]

I slipped in the Sun jibe to see if people would focus on taking me down instead answering the question. As usual, the most hostile course ensues.

Yes of course Sun are key in the development of networking technologies at large. Yes of couse Open Office, Sparc stations, their physical server architecture, desktop build quality, JVM, debugging tools, pricing structures and the laughable linux distro make me cry on a regular basis.

The question was: what will the future web be like? I'm after inspiring ideas not the usual overly defensive bile.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by geokker

I slipped in the Sun jibe to see if people would focus on taking me down instead answering the question. As usual, the most hostile course ensues....The question was: what will the future web be like? I'm after inspiring ideas not the usual overly defensive bile.

Well that's yer own fault pal!

Decide which topic you wanna discuss, because your Sun comment was the equivalent of yelling "White Power" at a Black Muslim meeting. Don't blame us for your impudence.

Now, what was your question again? Oh yeah, future of the internet....

Its gonna be totally Balkanized due to two issues:

• The desire of closed societies (e.g. China, Saudi, Iran) to "protect" their citizens from "wrong thinking".
• The desire to kill spam by basically closing off the "wild west countries" (e.g. China (whoa! see a pattern there? They can dish it out but they can't take it...), South Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Ex-Soviet) from the backbone.

This will be ugly, but its about to happen big time....

IPv2 will be painful, but it will change everything. Watch this space, cuz nobody has a clue as to what will happen....

Node-hopping,
Buffy

[Boerseun]

Great question.

Hopefully, corporate thinking will start catching up to what's already available. Without requiring any changes to the web as is, we can reduce traffic on the roads by easily 60-70% by deploying telecommuting as a corporate strategy.

Large corporations can exist without real estate for office parks, etc. Everybody can sit at home, or at their favourite cafe/restuarant/bar/library etc. and work from there. As long as you get through your pile of whatever you do for a living, it shouldn't matter if you work at night, or day, or whenever you feel so inclined.

If a huge change takes place on the web scene (IPv2, for example) it'll mean a lot for techs and geeks the world over, but it'll mean nothing for the average joe if companies don't play catch-up. And companies generally won't, seeing as 90% of presidents, vp's, chairmen, shareholders etc. are 50+ and don't have the faintest idea what these bright-eyed youngsters are on about when they ask for a big chunk of the budget to improve current IT infrastructure.

The internet as it is, is already vastly underutilised because of corporate short-sightedness. And incredibly huge corporate momentum also plays a key role here.

What's a one-line description best able to describe the whole concept of the internet? As an example, here's one: "The ability to do stuff from a distance". Stuff could be anything; closing your garage doors from work, visiting the British Museum from home, research, etc. And, in my opinion, any change or upgrade to the internet as a whole should still suit that one-line description, otherwise it'll be a completely new beast. Any changes will then only benefit techs and geeks who actually understand what its about, and who'll get excited about being able to chop ten nanoseconds off their download time thanks to a new protocol or compression technology.

[alexander]

As usual, the most hostile course ensues.

i told you why wont join the discussion and only commented on the controvercial issue...