Now that we’re all content with reading, writing, listening, watching and buying online, is there anything left for us to try? It’s important to ask yourself this now and again in order to keep up with the internet’s ever-changing technologies and uses.
Central to any advances in the internet from now on is internet speed. This will change the entire ethos of media distribution. What's the point in having a tv or dvd player if you can watch the same programme at the same high quality over the internet?
According to The Washington Post article: "Japan's Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future,” the Japanese are already way ahead of us in internet connection speed. Broadband service in Japan is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States, and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world's fastest internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show.
So once we’ve caught up with Japan’s technology, where will that leave us?
One of the major changes we’ll see over the coming years will be in media. News and publishing will all move even further online and we’ll be able to watch, read or download a good deal more than we do currently.
Another advance which I’m hoping for is in schools education. Schools (rather than universities) are still quite behind in making the best use of internet technology and I think that there could potentially be some leaps forward in the coming years.
And finally, the last change which I hope we’ll see sometime in the next 10 years or so will be that network security concerns will be resolved and online voting will take off, resulting in an increased voter turnout.
One thing that I don’t think will change is our need for the human travel agent. Try to book a round the world flight online and you'll notice your blood pressure rising, eye twitching and fist clenching from the frustration of it.
