The Next Internet - Part 3 - Putting it all Together

[Disclaimer: This blog is formatted to show newer stories first, and that generally makes sense, unless your writing a series with parts that build on each other. So please go back and read Part 1&2. Some of you may want to be cowboys and dive straight into part 3. I don't know if it'll make much sense, but enjoy.]

When you put it all together, this is what the The Next Internet will look like:

Wireless high-bandwidth internet will be everywhere. No more dead-zones. No more streaming problems. No more debates about the merits of 3G. As Mark Cuban pointed out, this is probably the most important development, as all other factors depend on it.

Almost every electronic device you can think of will be connected to the internet via their own IP protocols, and will be able to interact with other devices. Non-electronic devices will be able to communicate with the internet via RFID tags, but on a more limited basis.

Imagine this: Your alarm-clock goes off and the coffee maker starts while your personalized electronic paper is delivered to your e-book reader (or your Microsoft Surface) and all other screens in your home. Your toothbrush is aware of what you ate for breakfast and uses the proper cleaning mode. Your car is activated as you leave your home, and adjusts itself based on the current weather report.

Anything and everything that is connected will be locatable. There are literally thousands of innovations that will come of this, the most obvious one being location based advertising. There will be tremendous effects in terms of social interaction as well. Finally, to continue from the previous example, as you pull into your driveway after a long day of work, your shower or maybe your oven will automatically start. If you want to alter something from your usual setting, simply punch it into the screen in your car.

Every single individual will have the equivalent of an online SS#, which will be their ID for almost every action in life, both on and off the net ( there will be little if anything that is off the net). This ID will obviously be the default login for all your web-activity, but will also be used when making purchases at brick and mortar stores, or even possibly when receiving a parking ticket. This ID will be the key in allowing all devices associated with the actual YOU to interact. In the previous example, your car and home can only communicate because they are registered under your ID. These ID's will be managed by a few OpenID providers, but there will be little if any difference between them. An ID from any provider will work in all the same ways and places.

The idea of hard-drives within devices will become virtually obsolete except for some amount of emergency flash storage (which will still be rather large in capacity but small in size). Almost all data will be stored in the cloud. Every individual, via their ID, will have an allocated amount of storage in the cloud for FREE. This will be the default storage for all their files, including potentially their software and even operating system. This storage will either be managed by the very same OpenID providers, or in some sort of partnership with the storage companies (Amazon is making strides in this area already). Furthermore, all data generated from your activities with anything connected to the net (almost everything) will be stored here. This will require a massive amount of protocols, and new data types, but I have no doubt that it will be the easy part. The hard part will be the privacy concerns.

Possibly the most revolutionary part of the Next Internet will be its implications on mobile computing. Currently, aside from the lack of true high bandwidth wireless, the greatest obstacles preventing innovation in the mobile category are screen size and battery life. There is only so big a screen you can give a mobile device and still call it mobile. The IPhone took an innovative approach to this problem via a full touchscreen and a browser that simulates a desktop layout. Although this is a fantastic solution for the short term, it is merely a temporary fix. Yet, even the IPhone has been hampered by battery life problems. The more computing power our hand held devices have, the more energy they require. Unfortunately, there is no analogous Moore's law in the world of electro-chemistry.

I will continue with the future of Mobile Computing and Television in the next post. I will then conclude my thoughts in what will be the 5th and final part of this series. After I conclude this series, I will start to write more about the products, events, and ideas of today. I had to get this grand scheme out of my system before I could dig into the present. Furthermore, the possible future is often a good framework through which to evaluate where we are, who is positioned to succeed going forward, and who will fall behind.