The dot com bubble was born in the 90's, and the world never looked back. People could look up information, view pictures, and communicate with each other virtually instantaneously. The internet became staid almost, though it was still regarded as one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century. However, as the new millennium began, the Internet became invigorated by a new term and new concept; Web 2.0. The definition of Web 2.0 itself is hotly contested, though Tim O'Reily, who coined the term Web 2.0, has offered one definition. His concept of Web 2.0 is far broader than the ideas that are bandied about now. Some think Web 2.0 is based around social networking and idea sharing, though O'Reily considers any way in which people can instantly communicate with each other as Web 2.0 technology.
As I've said previously in this blog, we are the techno generation. We live on the internet; Facebook in one tab, a google search or wikipedia entry in another, our e-mail in a third, and iTunes minimized. We live in forums, we developed our own language (bbl, ttyl, brb, and the endless parade of emoticons), and we can constantly be interacting and connecting with others. A student in America can share and talk with a cubicle worker in Bejing. This fascinates me. The Internet fascinates me. It is the lifeblood of the world now. We cannot exist without the Internet. It may sound pathetic, but I am not ashamed to admit that I feel withdrawal when I am not able to access the Internet for an extended period of time. I have an Iphone and can check my e-mail and facebook multiple times a day, and that's without even sitting down at a desktop computer.
So, what does this have to do with anything?
The future of the Internet is of great interest to me. Widgets and RSS Feeds, wikis and blogs, flickr and IM. All these technologies occurred in the last decade. What awaits us around the corner? Just one example is the latest web based addon Google has unveiled, a tool that allows users to comment on/give extra information about a web page. The greatest features of this tool are the instantaneous feedback and the ability for multiple comments to appear on multiple web pages. This is quintessential Web 2.0.
My goal is to learn more about what the Internet can offer, the odd/quirky ways in which people utilize Internet tools (del.ici.ous comes to mind), and the rapidly growing and expanding technology that makes up the infrastructure of the Internet. Is it really that hard to imagine a time in the future where the human race has (d)evolved into cyborgs? Where computers are embedded into our brains, where we can look things up simply by thinking it? Nothing ever stays the same, especially technology.
So, what does this have to do with anything?
The future of the Internet is of great interest to me. Widgets and RSS Feeds, wikis and blogs, flickr and IM. All these technologies occurred in the last decade. What awaits us around the corner? Just one example is the latest web based addon Google has unveiled, a tool that allows users to comment on/give extra information about a web page. The greatest features of this tool are the instantaneous feedback and the ability for multiple comments to appear on multiple web pages. This is quintessential Web 2.0.
My goal is to learn more about what the Internet can offer, the odd/quirky ways in which people utilize Internet tools (del.ici.ous comes to mind), and the rapidly growing and expanding technology that makes up the infrastructure of the Internet. Is it really that hard to imagine a time in the future where the human race has (d)evolved into cyborgs? Where computers are embedded into our brains, where we can look things up simply by thinking it? Nothing ever stays the same, especially technology.
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