The web in 20 years time? - [Closes 18/09/07]

[RedStratocas]

Lol the thing is, the internet could be gone in 20 Years...?

20 Years ago, Computer's were not the main source of information, etc. So people obviously thought another appliance would become better in the future. But it obviously never because of the introduction of the Internet.

Atm the Internet seems like it will be popular forever, but who knows. In 20 years time a new type of communication might be created taking over the Internet and making it less powerful.

i highly doubt it. the internet is so easy and has so many uses, i cant imagine any communication device beating it. it's not really a product, its more of an idea. no one owns it. thats why tv took off and will be around in one form or another forever. internet might change form, but i doubt it'll be beaten.

[malcster505]

The internet is just like millions of servers.
The internet is SO big *At this present time*, But in the future who knows?

It might not be the internet.. It might be another device which works totally differently, but more easier.
I mean, look at all these big bussinesses at the moment, making alot of money from the web, so say if E.g. George Bush Said "No one can use the internet in the US", (He'd be extremely unpopular), but it wouldn't exactly be possible to do that, because so many companies would complain, because they'd go bust, so the internet probably won't be gone in 20 years,
BUT, in the future, the Governments, will probably have much more control over it, so maybe it could become much less useful, because of it being filtered, and "watered down" if you get me, because everyone shows there opinions freely, and to be honest, if that opinion goes totally against the government, or whatever, then there likely to make sure it gets removed, so maybe in the future, it might be completely Useless.

[RedStratocas]

The internet is just like millions of servers.
The internet is SO big *At this present time*, But in the future who knows?

It might not be the internet.. It might be another device which works totally differently, but more easier.
I mean, look at all these big bussinesses at the moment, making alot of money from the web, so say if E.g. George Bush Said "No one can use the internet in the US", (He'd be extremely unpopular), but it wouldn't exactly be possible to do that, because so many companies would complain, because they'd go bust, so the internet probably won't be gone in 20 years,
BUT, in the future, the Governments, will probably have much more control over it, so maybe it could become much less useful, because of it being filtered, and "watered down" if you get me, because everyone shows there opinions freely, and to be honest, if that opinion goes totally against the government, or whatever, then there likely to make sure it gets removed, so maybe in the future, it might be completely Useless.

that's a huge, huge longshot :/

[malcster505]

History will be the Judge.

[England]

b will actually be able to go inside habbo with a chip attached to ur head and then i will go nick ur furni

[Wiley]

most likely more porn.

amen .

[ReviewDude]

The internet is facing an issue at the moment, called net neutrality (or the lack thereof), which is likely to play some part in its future. In the future, the internet as we know it will be controlled, by three means:

1. The Providers - back to neutrality again, eventually, when companies that supply broadband cross the 'last mile', they will ascertain their power to control your internet access. Say BT Broadband finds a lot of its customers moving to AOL - they'll just block their website from access. This is a part of the control, it may not be noticeable particularly, but it will be there, very soon.

2. The Advertisers - Companies make billions of dollars from the Internet every week, and the majority of that is through careful advertising on popular sites. However, at present, people get the option (when they host their website) not to put any ads on. Not so in 20 years' time. All advertising will be done client-side, as once again providers cave, and allow advertisers to fill up any free space on web-pages as you visit them (not to mention with ads very specific to your browsing habits). This is one big cycle, advertisers pay ISPs, the users of whom then pay the advertisers through sales.

3. Censorship - They did it in China, they'll do it here. There'll come a point, very soon, where people run out of other people to blame that their children do stupid things, and will turn to point the finger at the internet (as many already have). This, eventually, will lead to the government (in all countries) deciding that enough is enough, and complying the internet to follow existing laws, whilst drafting new ones.

This will probably vary by country, but imagine an internet that is filtered (much like at school, or college), however no proxies will get round it. We'll see a team of people who trawl through the internet, monitoring and arresting those that talk about illegal offences, such as making bombs.

This is bar far the most bleak future for the internet, and one I fear never comes true. I'm comforted by the fact that we have one place in this world where freedom of speech is almost always free - so enjoy it while it lasts, because YouTube will be gone (copyrighted material), as will file-sharing and torrent sites, anything that's even vaguely offensive will be no more.

[Cypher-]

more silly teen sites designed to capture your wallet and your soul

[Jamesy]

to the guy with the very large post.

We must plan the resistance! They sent back bill gates. As a errornator to stop the internet.


RESIST!!!!


(totally spaced out )

[Stephen]

b will actually be able to go inside habbo with a chip attached to ur head and then i will go nick ur furni

LOLLLZZZ That made me lol bad!! +rep