The world is flat.
So said Thomas Friedman, referring to the globalization of the
information technology industry. He termed this flattening as
Globalization 3.0. Technology today has made the world flatter for the
likes of us. And spawned new worlds. Virtual communities. Virtual
ecosystems. Virtual worlds. Welcome to Globalization 4.0. The new
globalized social order. On the World Wide Web enabled through
interconnected computer networks. Otherwise known as the Internet - the network of networks. Nowhere in his wildest imagination would Tim Berners-Lee
have imagined the lasting impact his CERN project would have had on
humanity. That he would have redefined the very paradigm of social
interactions. Changed the very definition of Fun!
I remember how I interacted with my friends 10 years ago and realize how I interact with them now. It's much more enjoyable calling pals across the continent through a Skype video call from my mobile that is ideal for conferencing. See the snowfall in Canada. Live. See my pal's kids frolick. No longer do I have to struggle to capture his emotions as he relates interesting experiences on a foreign land. The emotions flow through the video call making the interaction so full of life. So full of fun. It has also been fun to reconnect with long lost friends. Searching for them using Google. Or connecting with them through Facebook. Or getting them on Facebook and sharing their photographs with others in the family. And recounting fond memories. Of childhood adventures. Of college mischiefs. The reconnect is so intense, it dissolves the time gap making it feel like yesterday.
One hour to reach office. Swiftly I reach for my Android mobile. It's time to catch up on global events and browse through all the interesting stuff happening out there. My nifty RSS reader springs into action, going on to the Internet to download rich content for me. Information. Empowered. This empowerment makes decision making more fun and less work. Information is the key that the Internet provides. At my fingertips. Whenever I want it. Yippy, I shout. An incredibly happy person as I sift through posts covering new discoveries in science and technology, the latest Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, what device to buy next. The works! That done its time to relax now to online videos. I launch one of the Ted Talks I have marked as a favorite. Tiny robots made by Vijay Kumar and his team. Robots that fly and cooperate with each other. Truly amazing.
I ponder deeply on how my life has changed, With instant news. Instant information.
At home, everyone uses the Internet in some way or the other to have fun. Either on the mobile or using the tablet. From online games to Disney's innovative Penguin Club which my kid adores and connects with other children across the world. Booking tickets online for the next movie show. Banking on the sofa. Paying bills. All done in a jiffy. Giving more time for fun. The Internet is a true productivity machine. You can do whatever, whenever at your convenience. Giving you back your precious moments of Life. To do what you could never find the time for.
It's also broken boundaries. Geographical, Cultural, Temporal. The real advantage about the Internet is the way it allows people to interact with each other, form networks, expand networks to create a larger community. A community of friends. Or, a community of like minded people that are organized around a common purpose. The purpose is varied. From social revolutions to fan followings to hobbies such as photography to conferences or workshops. The fun part is that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ together with mobile devices take interactions to the next level. When you update your status on Twitter or Facebook, you broadcast your thoughts, reaching a very wide audience. Imagine doing that in the physical world. The Internet makes communication even more efficient. The ability of communicating instantly makes the internet so much a fun place to work with. A truly connected world. Full of conversations.
It is now time for governments and corporations to release data. The Internet is only as good as the data it handles. With more open data sources, it is possible to merge various sources of information, to draw meaning from different associations. With open data, new theories can be verfied in real time. Why is Open data fun? Linking data sources through mashups leads to new insights, which are best illustrated in the Tim's own words. Apart from Open Data, the Internet is a great research tool for all generations. The sheer magic with which one can dig into historical, geographical, statistical and all sorts of information is truly spell bounding. With the Internet and the WWW, it was possible for Wikipedia to be born. A huge democratic encyclopedia. By the people, For the people. Of the people.
Now the World Wide Web has been around for quite a long time. It makes one wonder, what then is the future of the Internet. How will it become more fun. One possibility that stares us right into our face are devices connected to each other by a unique address. In other words the Internet of Things. You would be equally amazed to learn (as I was), that in the year 2008, the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people. How does that matter?
Imagine.
Your washing machine, television, car, lighting being connected on to the internet. Imagine your mobile phone interacting with these devices. Controlling them like an autonomous remote control. Receiving status messages on your mobile and taking actions on them. Without your intervention. The Internet creates a smarter world when it becomes the Internet of Things. That in my opinion is the penultimate in Fun. A kind of fun we cannot imagine today. But, something that has gradually begun today. With pacemakers that inform doctors on the condition of patients. With goods that inform the supermarket where they are. With cars that update each other on traffic conditions. Real time.
The Network is the Computer. The Internet is the new Reality. The Next Revolution. That will make Life more Fun. More enjoyable with unimagined possibilities.
The Internet is Fun. Fun to explore. Fun to work. Fun, to have more fun!The internet and its associated paraphernelia has evolved. From minimalistic text browsers such as Lynx to the uber super Opera, Firefox and Chrome. What has seeded this evolution? And catalyzed it further to become the behemoth of human interactions. The paraphernelia is only part of the puzzle that makes it possible. Without the Internet, and the means to transfer data your swanky Android or Apple or Windows devices are limited in possibilities. With both, the possibilities are Endless. Infinity.
I remember how I interacted with my friends 10 years ago and realize how I interact with them now. It's much more enjoyable calling pals across the continent through a Skype video call from my mobile that is ideal for conferencing. See the snowfall in Canada. Live. See my pal's kids frolick. No longer do I have to struggle to capture his emotions as he relates interesting experiences on a foreign land. The emotions flow through the video call making the interaction so full of life. So full of fun. It has also been fun to reconnect with long lost friends. Searching for them using Google. Or connecting with them through Facebook. Or getting them on Facebook and sharing their photographs with others in the family. And recounting fond memories. Of childhood adventures. Of college mischiefs. The reconnect is so intense, it dissolves the time gap making it feel like yesterday.
One hour to reach office. Swiftly I reach for my Android mobile. It's time to catch up on global events and browse through all the interesting stuff happening out there. My nifty RSS reader springs into action, going on to the Internet to download rich content for me. Information. Empowered. This empowerment makes decision making more fun and less work. Information is the key that the Internet provides. At my fingertips. Whenever I want it. Yippy, I shout. An incredibly happy person as I sift through posts covering new discoveries in science and technology, the latest Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, what device to buy next. The works! That done its time to relax now to online videos. I launch one of the Ted Talks I have marked as a favorite. Tiny robots made by Vijay Kumar and his team. Robots that fly and cooperate with each other. Truly amazing.
I ponder deeply on how my life has changed, With instant news. Instant information.
At home, everyone uses the Internet in some way or the other to have fun. Either on the mobile or using the tablet. From online games to Disney's innovative Penguin Club which my kid adores and connects with other children across the world. Booking tickets online for the next movie show. Banking on the sofa. Paying bills. All done in a jiffy. Giving more time for fun. The Internet is a true productivity machine. You can do whatever, whenever at your convenience. Giving you back your precious moments of Life. To do what you could never find the time for.
It's also broken boundaries. Geographical, Cultural, Temporal. The real advantage about the Internet is the way it allows people to interact with each other, form networks, expand networks to create a larger community. A community of friends. Or, a community of like minded people that are organized around a common purpose. The purpose is varied. From social revolutions to fan followings to hobbies such as photography to conferences or workshops. The fun part is that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ together with mobile devices take interactions to the next level. When you update your status on Twitter or Facebook, you broadcast your thoughts, reaching a very wide audience. Imagine doing that in the physical world. The Internet makes communication even more efficient. The ability of communicating instantly makes the internet so much a fun place to work with. A truly connected world. Full of conversations.
It is now time for governments and corporations to release data. The Internet is only as good as the data it handles. With more open data sources, it is possible to merge various sources of information, to draw meaning from different associations. With open data, new theories can be verfied in real time. Why is Open data fun? Linking data sources through mashups leads to new insights, which are best illustrated in the Tim's own words. Apart from Open Data, the Internet is a great research tool for all generations. The sheer magic with which one can dig into historical, geographical, statistical and all sorts of information is truly spell bounding. With the Internet and the WWW, it was possible for Wikipedia to be born. A huge democratic encyclopedia. By the people, For the people. Of the people.
Now the World Wide Web has been around for quite a long time. It makes one wonder, what then is the future of the Internet. How will it become more fun. One possibility that stares us right into our face are devices connected to each other by a unique address. In other words the Internet of Things. You would be equally amazed to learn (as I was), that in the year 2008, the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people. How does that matter?
Imagine.
Your washing machine, television, car, lighting being connected on to the internet. Imagine your mobile phone interacting with these devices. Controlling them like an autonomous remote control. Receiving status messages on your mobile and taking actions on them. Without your intervention. The Internet creates a smarter world when it becomes the Internet of Things. That in my opinion is the penultimate in Fun. A kind of fun we cannot imagine today. But, something that has gradually begun today. With pacemakers that inform doctors on the condition of patients. With goods that inform the supermarket where they are. With cars that update each other on traffic conditions. Real time.
The Network is the Computer. The Internet is the new Reality. The Next Revolution. That will make Life more Fun. More enjoyable with unimagined possibilities.
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