The Next Internet

The Internet is by far the fastest-growing medium in the history of mankind, and this development is not going to slow down anytime soon. New technologies, smart software solutions and the inter-connectedness of systems that have so far not been linked at all, will lead to the "next Internet" being substantially different from what it is today.

The next Internet...

• is going to be much faster: New transfer technologies like xDSL or UMTS on the one hand, and the more efficient use of data structures (eg, MP4) on the other hand, will make sure that a large part of Internet users will be able to access the WWW much faster than ever before. As a consequence, technologies like Flash will be able to be used without the current limitations due to lack of transfer speed, and entirely new services (like video-on-demand) will be made possible.
• will (also) be wireless: Next to the Internet via connected lines, wireless data transmission will enable user to access the Internet anytime and anywhere. "Always-on" PDAs or smartphones will be offering new services. One of the keywords is "location-based services", i.e. services that are tailored to where the user currently is (ranging from information on petrol stations in the vicinity, to special offers of the local supermarket transmitted to your smartphone as you pass by).
• will be much easier: Intelligent software and new technologies will make the Internet and many of its services a lot easier and more intuitive to handle. Clever search engines will make sure that the right information is found in a minimum of time, "smart agents" will take over a lot of routine-tasks, and "passive personalization" will tailor services to the exact needs of the individual.
• will connect the most diverse of devices: Already in a short period of time, Internet-technology will not be limited to the computer anymore. The refrigerator, your washing machine, the heating system or the TV - all devices will be able to communicate via the IP (Internet Protocol) with each other as well as with the user.

The most important and most profound change, however, will be the Internet becoming much more integrated - and very often invisible - into our daily lives.

Therefore websites as we know them today will lose their significance. The Internet will cease to be solely an external network, but will be entering our households and daily lives. A lot of services that are today being performed by websites will soon be taken over by a range of different devices and smarter software: Think of the refrigerator, which provides recipes and is capable of ordering the required ingredients; The washing machine that sends a message to the service company when it breaks down; Or the smartphone you can use to switch on the heating while you are driving home. Most of the time we will not even be knowing that all these devices and services will be using what we now call the Internet, but we will take this for granted without even thinking about it.

All this will bring us new services, change existing structures, create room for new business models - but it will also require a new quality of thinking.

It is not going to be a "revolution" (in the sense of a major sudden change) - much more likely, the changes will be ongoing and persistent. And it is not going to affect every single company and our entire life, as is nowadays often prophesized. But the changes will, without doubt, be fundamental and long-lasting - and endlessly exciting as well.

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