CYBERSPACE The Final Frontier

Future of cyberspace &

New technologies

 NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON DAILY LIFE The Internet is undoubtedly permeating and

transforming all aspects of our economies and societies. It is a remarkable catalyst for creativity, collaboration and innovation and more broadly, for the development of our economies and societies. A few examples: in 1998, Google indexed 26 million web-pages, today it indexes 1 trillion; Within only five years,

Facebook and MySpace have attracted each more than 100 million users world wide; user-generated content such as YouTube produced more than 73 billion streams in 2008; with around four billion mobile users world wide, the Internet is becoming more and more mobile and capable to support a range of new applications and services that were not foreseen in its original design

Now we not only shop, bank, work and meet people online; but we share what we are doing at any given moment (e.g. Twitter), and even keep statistics on daily minutia. We read, listen and watch everything. We Digg, rate, share and favorite content daily.

So what’s next?

Technology is always evolving – and none quite as fast as the Internet. Here are some predictions for what may be yet to come!

A quick preface OK Internet, let’s call a truce for a minute or two.

As anyone who has spent time on a site’s comment section knows, the Internet can be a cruel place. Articles with the word "Prediction" in the title can invite some pretty terrible and/or amusing flame wars, but I want this article to be just friendly enough that you, the reader, are feeling comfortable enough to jump in with some predictions of your own! There are no wrong answers in a brainstorm.

Here are some predictions for the future of the daily life :

1. Audio web surfing

Building the web with standards and accessibility in mind brings the Internet to as wide an audience as possible. With the importance of accessibility getting the recognition it deserves lately, I think screen readers will soon take a front seat as a common means for surfing a site for a much broader audience.

I’m calling it: people on the train with headphones attached to their mobile device while Text-to-Speech reads them the latest articles from their favorite sites. HTML5 is a step in an awesome direction with regards to easy reference points; header, footer, nav, section, and article could be logical jump-to points by audible instruction. Rather than reading and clicking, the audience can tell the browser where they want to go with spoken commands.

Audio surfing could be perfect for the aforementioned commuters, children learning to read, step-by-step tutorials as well as the casual multitasking user. While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, any traffic to a site by an audience who cares is welcome.

For web developers, there may be new accessibility opportunities especially for multi-lingual sites. Who knows, this might be another nail in the Flash coffin.

2. Web surf on any device

It seems the tech industry is eager to integrate the Internet into every device these days. It’s the equivalent to adding a digital clock to a coffee maker. Why not? Adding a touch-screen to your fridge and other appliances might create new opportunities and challenges for interfacing.

Content is king – no matter what. As seemingly redundant or over the top it might seem to have a screen built into the kitchen counter – if it doubles as a cutting board, all the better.

The major weakness to the increase of connected devices comes in the same flavor as the raging Net Neutrality issues being discussed today. If the Internet is tied into content devices like televisions, broadcasting companies might start pulling more of their annoying control-freak shenanigans in an attempt to capture a greater audience. This will be temporary; the battle of old-media vs. the Internet has only one ending (hint: the loser starts with the letter "o" followed by the letters "ld-media").

I hope that with the advent of new devices comes an easier way for developers to "browser sniff" their traffic and serve up the appropriate content. If device manufacturers adhere to accessibility standards, the results could be amazing.

3. Input revisited

The recent boom in smartphone devices has shown us that tiny screens and suddenly awkward digits can sometimes make for a cumbersome user experience. Our traditional concepts of input applied to the next generation could be confounded more as the devices and environments change. At 6′ 4", I don’t relish the idea of hunching over a wall-mounted screen that has my 5′ 2" coworker in mind.

Clayton Miller shared his concept for multi-touch computing

I think we’re all ready to computer better, but this could easily be a disaster. If the new input technology is universal like the mouse was, everyone wins. I think it’s more likely that many hardware manufacturers will try to invent their own GUIs. This would mean many learning curves, and would be generally painful to deal with.

4. Mobile networking

Bluetooth is known for allowing wireless communication, like with hands-free systems in cars, and the some of the latest mice and keyboards (like the aforementioned Magic Mouse). It also may be the future for mobile networking and P2P interactions.

Stands for "Peer to Peer." In a P2P network, the "peers" are computer systems which are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can be shared directly between systems on the network without the need of a central server. In other words, each computer on a P2P network becomes a file server as well as a client.

Does that blow your mind? Imagine interacting on a website with a friend, or with the advertisement at the bus shelter. The possibilities become staggering.

Some non-gaming applications come readily to mind:

Simultaneous dual login for greater site security

Online training sessions and remote-access troubleshooting

On location interactions with stores, tourist attractions or public services.

For years, the Internet has been about serving the singular user. With the growing need and importance of online community, multiple-user experiences seem like the next logical step.

5. The end of .com domination

For as long as the Internet has been around, .com has been the assumed default extension for websites . For a while, there was almost a negative stigma to not having the .com for your brand, company or personal site. How many times has traffic meant for your site ended up at the .com equivalent?

With all common words and combinations taken , people turn to other extensions, invent words, or turn to crazy spelling.

In the very near future new extensions will be popping more often. Not only that, but I think trending may follow in that vein. I also predict that Domain Service giants like GoDaddy will start selling "Extension Subscriptions" where you can guarantee yourself the various extensions for your domain name.

More extensions have some definite advantages, and some drawbacks. On the plus side, when adding a link to some print materials, maybe we’ll be able to drop the "www", which is often used now as a cue that "this is in fact a URL".

I would also like to raise the question, how long will we need these addresses? Remembering and using URLs to point at sites works well, but doesn’t seem the most efficient way to bring site users to websites. One day, search engines, RSS readers, communities and networks may reduce direct traffic to a trickle, making the .com even less important.

6. IE stops being used

I’ll admit this seems like the most unlikely out of all the other predictions. Maybe it won’t happen in our lifetime, but it is somehow feasible that it could happen.

Here’s how it could go down: in the distant future, some impending disaster will cause mankind to have to abandon Earth and head for a planet light years away. The question of who and what can go to the new planet will of course be a major issue, and sadly IE won’t make it off of the doomed Earth. The escaping web designers and developers will enjoy a short-lived period of joy as there will always be some misfit version of Internet Explorer to support.

Today the Internet is about consuming and creating information. How do you think we will use it in the years to come? Make your predictions known in the comments.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

TURKEY