What will the Internet look like in 2020?

guerilla

All we do is win
Aug 18, 2007
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Quora is usually boring but there are some interesting opinions here.

Future of Internet: What will the Internet look like in 2020? - Quora

My guess? The Internet will be omnipresent; the web will be 'dead'. The web as we know it is built upon, and limited by, the aging paradigm of static pages. It hasn't yet reached its limit, but as we approach newer ways of interacting with the Internet, the web becomes more and more constrained.

The Internet will probably become more of a true protocol rather than a term used interchangeably with 'the web'. Browsing the web is already more accurate than saying 'browsing the Internet', and that's a process that'll continue. Everything can and should be connected to the Internet, with almost no exceptions. Should it be public, though? Not necessarily, but that's easy - just keep it on a secure connection and off the web.

One only has to look at apps (more and more people use Internet without accessing the open web) or touch interaction (a finger and a mouse pointer requires different approaches in UI) to see that this is already underway.
 


Really? This is the guys vision for the Internet? It won't just be 'the web', but other protocols? FTP, SMTP, IRC, Gopher, HTTP, etc are all PROTOCOLS that operate over the internet. The internet isn't the web and never was.
 
Personally, I'm looking forward to 2020 when I can log into AOL Online with my Teleport Gold 2400 modem and exchange porn mag scans in the chat rooms, which take 4 hours to download.
 
All devices and appliances are connected. Designer lifestyles over IP. For those who don't assimilate...Project Mayhem, bitches.
 
virtual net sex company will beat google share price and reside alongside the ranks of MS, apple,intel...
 
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I'd guess, but every time I've seen something like this, in 99% of cases, people aren't remotely close.

Howard H. Aiken said:
Originally one thought that if there were a half dozen large computers in this country, hidden away in research laboratories, this would take care of all requirements we had throughout the country.

If I was to make a random guess:

  • No more individual username/password combos for sites. One common network is used to authenticate for all things you use
  • The web is more targeted - search results and so forth are a product of everything you do in your day-to-day life, from spending habits, grocery shopping to your friends' interests and searches. (We're already going down this line)
  • More devices are connected to the net - your fridge can ping you a message when you're out of milk, for example.

I'm not overly bullish beyond that. The internet in 2004 wasn't much different to what it is today in many ways. The primary leap forward has been social media to make it easier for people to engage with others online & AJAX really.

The static sites that people think will be dead just won't. There'll still be a need for finding bits of information which only random webmasters have, and those will continue to exist on static sites. They've hardly evolved since 1998, and are still used and visited now. Who's to say they won't be in 2020?
 
I'm not overly bullish beyond that. The internet in 2004 wasn't much different to what it is today in many ways. The primary leap forward has been social media to make it easier for people to engage with others online & AJAX really.
Tablets, Apps, Mobile, HTML 5, CSS3, Video.

That's off the top of my head.

The one thing that continues to endure is email. Everything else is up for grabs.

I don't know if you guys follow mobile usage rates, but mobile is taking off in a massive way. How many people have a mobile compatible static website, let alone any sort of mobile content strategy?
 
Yeah, I'm absolutely convinced we will all eventually be forced to sign on with our real identities and have one username across the web.
I don't know that we'll be forced to do anything, but the web is pushing towards two things.

Transparency

Single Sign-On services

Transparency is going to apply to all of us. Everyday people will have to start being accountable for what they say online or they will not have access to some of the major services.

Single Sign-On is necessary for a mobile and touch screen environment, where typing out registration and login forms is a disincentive to adoption.

Click, use this service to login (twitter, facebook)
Click, yes I authorize this.

Done.
 
This might be a little later (my guess is around 2025 or 2030), but something like this:

Me out loud: Hey, remember that movie with Michael Jordon and those aliens that played basketball. What was it called?
Response: It is called Space Jam
Me: Ok cool. I want to watch it right now.
Response: Do you care what site you want to stream it from?
Me: No, just give me the site that is cheaper. Well also tell me how much it is on Amazon.
Response: The cheapest to rent the movie for a day is $2 on iTunes. Amazon is $2.20 to rent. Amazon is the cheapest to buy for $8. If you want you can watch it for free on Hulu but they have ads every 20 minutes.
Me: Ok, I'd like to rent it from Amazon with my Discover Card.
Response: Ok, streaming it for you now!
 
Just wait in the next 1-200 years when we will be able to have teleporting, advanced computing powers, every house will have a 3D printer, graphic cards out of this world, touchscreen and interactive glass on everything, self driving cars, travel and live on another planet....

le sigh. why did I have to be born now?
 
Just wait in the next 1-200 years when we will be able to have teleporting, advanced computing powers, every house will have a 3D printer, graphic cards out of this world, touchscreen and interactive glass on everything, self driving cars, travel and live on another planet....

le sigh. why did I have to be born now?

So you could contribute towards making tomorrow ;)
 
Just wait in the next 1-200 years when we will be able to have teleporting, advanced computing powers, every house will have a 3D printer, graphic cards out of this world, touchscreen and interactive glass on everything, self driving cars, travel and live on another planet....

le sigh. why did I have to be born now?

By that time since people will be living forever, the birth rate will be practically 0 to deal with overpopulation.

So this might be the golden age to be born. Born any earlier and your life sucked more. Born any later... and well you might never have been born anyways.