Sheesh I sure hope the internet is here to stay and continues to expand - some of us are starting to rely on it for our ongoing income! I reckon that there are a few roadblocks ahead (e.g. the UK government are planning to make a law to enable them to track all emails from March 1 2009 - which is going to have to be paid for [presumably] by the ISPs and will no doubt have the 'right to privacy' lobby up in arms), but there have been bumps in the road before, and there will be even more as Big Brother gets his claws in to the 'net properly. For example, how would YOU feel about being taxed for net use? Times are getting hard, and treasuries and federal governments the world over are looking for ways to raise $$$s ... how about a fraction of a cent for every email, or a cent for every file uploaded/downloaded? Going to stop now - I'm worrying myself! To answer the question ... the net is here to stay and will flourish as long as it stays 'free to air'. That's my two cents worth - and I'm just a newbie here so I'll shut up!!
Internet just grew above 1 billion people online and that's only 1/6 of the potential. 1 billion people of which by far most cannot use computers or browsers which makes the potential for marketeers enormous as they thrive because of ignorant people. So yeah a lot to do here
I think the Internet will have a 2nd coming for the original purpose that it was designed for! Once all the hype over being able to access all the crazy stuff and once the Internet becomes second nature to the next generation and is in and available to use every home in the developed world. Then when everyone is so comfortable with it as part of everyday life, the Internet will have its 2nd coming and become the information sharing tool that it was intended to be in the 1st place
Once IPv6 hits the lines between offline and online will blur, your oven will email you letting you know that it has turned on to preheat, you will be able to do VTC's through TV's with NIC's. Everything will be connected.
The REAL future of the internet will not be information - but actual material goods. Ever hear of the 3-D printer? Governments are taking notice, because the internet is threatening the need for them at all. Futurists claim nanotechnology will make digital information indistinguishable from material goods. Then again the entrenched powers that be would very much like to prevent this from happening.
I think in future there will be more paid sites. Like be a member of a company/website and in order to use it, must pay. Everyone will have a second job online and maybe a second life.
Simply put, the internet is going to get bigger and bigger. For example, once upon a time you could only pay your utility bills at a physical office or buy groceries by physically going to the supermarket. Even banking had to be done from inside the bank. Nowadays, more and more businesses are going online because it is cheaper for them. As such, you can now do banking transactions online, and pay bills and buy groceries online. And there are a lot more things in store for the internet. The saturation point is nowhere close.
The internet is still in its infancy. Its maturing and sure its not the wild west days we enjoyed along with the .com boom, but its still in its infancy. Those who adapt will reap rewards, those who create and don't just surf waves created by others will get rich. I am excited about the future of the net
The internet will be a growing market for some time to come - at least until everyone around the world has full access to it.
more and more services will move online, as stated above, banks (retail outlet) are now only for complaints and problems, all other business is done online. The Obama thing will prove how effective mass communication and mobilisation tool it is. FaceBook will transcend flavour of the month and become as important as Google and bread/rice. The move of business online will be escalated by increasing population using the net, and cost cutting.
Yeah, the redced costs of running a business online mean that businesses will inevitably try to switch to online-only if at all possible. It eliminates the cost of renting floor space.
I think we have just begun to scratch the surface. As the capabilities of the net and related technologies expand the effect and potential of the internet can only increase. We are here at the beginning IMHO.
One additional kind of sci-fi sorta thought... I seriously wonder sometimes with the explosive rise of social networking whether we may be actually creating some kind of interconnected consciousness. Ray Kurzweil thinks so and he has serious credentials as a deep future thinker
The internet is a way of communicating. It will always have a place as long as humans have a need to communicate and share information. It has so much more to explore and expand, if it were ever to go away it certainly wouldn't be in our lifetime. We are in the information age. As long as there are innovative thinkers, and information gatherers there will be internet.
more important, we will have gadgets with us and if you forgot to pay a bill, you could do it on the "phone" or whatever it is, while you are at the cinema or in hospital. this is not even future it is reality now but ,,,,it will become more ...normal