LOST IN MASTICATION

[Unfortunately, this isn't a well thought out post, and completely un-researched.  I write this blog-post-turned-essay as a way to spark constructive discussion about the Web and the way it is transforming lives.]

Happy 40th birthday Internet.

The first test that led to the operation of the Internet happened on September 2, 1969.  Many other things happened that summer, including the Apollo 11 lunar landing and Woodstock.  All three events changed the course of history in then unimaginable ways.  None, however, has affected individual lives as much as the Internet.

The Internet made the Web possible. (By comparison, the Web is only half the age of the Internet.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Web has changed so much about our society, culture and habits.  Many are embracing it, while others will continue to shun it.  Regardless of which side you’re on, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Web is here to stay.

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Over the last few months, I’ve had conversations with friends and colleagues alike about the future of the Web. Being the communications contact at a computing-focused school, I’m exposed to these conversations more than usual.

All indications are that we are not only moving toward a semantic Web, but also towards an experiential Web.  The experiential Web will be as forward-looking (a prediction mechanism) as it is reflective.  I’ve been trying to iron out my thoughts about this, so more to come later.  But in the meantime, Google’s SVP of Product Management has shared an internal memo today, that reflects on Obama’s inaugural speech and the future of the Web.

“From the Height of This Place” is an interesting, but long read that I’ve only skimmed through. Here are some highlights, that popped out at me:

All the world’s information will be accessible from the palm of every person

Today, over 1.4 billion people, nearly a quarter of the world’s population, use the Internet, with more than 200 million new people coming online every year. This is the fastest growing communications medium in history. How fast? When the Internet was first made available to the public, in 1983, there were 400 servers. Twenty five years later: well over 600 million.

Everyone can publish, and everyone will

One thing that we have learned in our industry is that people have a lot to say. They are using the Internet to publish things at an astonishing pace. 120K blogs are created daily — most of them with an audience of one. Over half of them are created by people under the age of nineteen. In the US, nearly 40 percent of Internet users upload videos, and globally over fifteen hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. The web is very social too: about one of every six minutes that people spend online is spent in a social network of some type.

When data is abundant, intelligence will win

The Internet allows for deeper and more informed participation and representation than has ever been possible. We see this happening frequently, particularly with our Geo products. The Surui tribe in the Amazon rain forest uses Google Earth to mark the boundaries of their land and work with authorities to stop illegal logging. Sokwanele, a civic action group in Zimbabwe, used the Google Maps API on their website to document reported cases of political violence and intimidation after the controversial Presidential election in March 2008. Armed with this map, the group can better convey and defend their argument that elections in Zimbabwe are neither free nor fair. The stakes couldn’t be higher for these people. We can give them a fighting chance.