Aaron Briggs
Aaron Briggs
SEP03 2009
news

Where Will the Web Be in 10 Years?

In our weekly Wednesday company meeting, we typically talk with each other about what we’ve learned in the last week and the projects we’re working on. This week, however, Nick threw us a bit of a curveball.

We split into two groups to answer a big question: where will the web be in 10 years? Each group was required to deliver 5 concepts. We talked for 15 minutes, and neither group was short on ideas. The hardest part was whittling it down.

Team 1

  1. Instant, on-demand purchase through smartphones and always-connected tablet devices (Apple has that oft-rumored tablet coming, you know). Buy anything, anywhere. This will likely be tied to “real-world” advertising: see an advertisement, scan/photo a barcode, buy in one click.
  2. Direct marketing will be customized based on more detailed demographics about the user. By understanding user’s behavior online, marketing and advertising will be more pointed at who you are. It will be personalized, too — think about online ads that talk to you directly, and then think about how this will inevitably be woven into advertising in television and other mediums…
  3. More online colleges/high schools/vocational schools, with personalized curriculum based on the student’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
  4. From a hardware standpoint: there will be the previously-mentioned tablet devices that serve as ever-connected (running on mesh-fi) mobile devices tying all your actions into the web. Furthermore, internet capable devices will be pervasive — imagine cars with internet capability, appliances that send you update when they need service, fridges that are intelligent enough to help you manage an online shopping list. Really, we think you’ll manage your entire home from a browser. And all this will enable more peer-to-peer interaction outside of “at the desk” scenarios: you’ll be “social networking” while you’re driving, walking down the street, shopping, etc.
  5. Finally — no operating system — all programs run in a browser.

Team 2

  1. Augmented reality will be pervasive. There will be no true “offline” — your real-world life will be more seamlessly connected to your online life. GPS-based technology will add context to the real-world. In fact, this is already happening.
  2. There will be further unified communication devices. Funny, Team 1 and Team 2 envisioned the same thing: all devices, and not just your computer, will be connected and online: your television, hot water heater, kitchen, etc.
  3. Localized print media will be gone. There may still be some national or global print media, but localized print media will all be moved online.
  4. Wireless access will be global.
  5. There will be no single social network — instead, social connectivity will happen through any website. You’ll have a single profile that will be recognized on any site, and allow you to engage in conversation there, share content, and make comments almost anywhere (which is then fed into your profile.) It’s like Facebook Connect, just much much larger and pervasive.
There were a few ideas worth mentioning that were nixed in an effort to trim down to just two…
  • It was (controversially, at first) proposed that web design and development firms like CentreSource would become rare. Obviously, this struck a chord with some of us. :) We agreed that the web design and development industry will change: firms will much likely be used as outsource partners for building rich applications and creating web media, but the traditional “website” will likely be created and managed by companies in-house using a template and a popular content management system. Perhaps most company websites will be Wordpress sites…
  • There was a bit of a discussion about entertainment as it pertains to the web. It was suggested that television and movies will be available online, through an a la carte purchase system, instead of relying on cable or even networks. Furthermore, we imagined that entertainment will likely get more niche: as more content is moved online, you might find shows and entertainment to be designed for a more niche audience so that advertising could be more targeted.
  • Finally, we all agreed that in 10 years the idea of a localized office will be much more foreign — scattered telecommuting workforces will be common, as online collaboration tools become better and better.

What do you think? Did we miss the mark? Did we dream too big or too small?

Tags: Company News, Miscellaneous, Operations, Security
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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 8:08 am and is filed under Company News, Miscellaneous, Operations, Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Nice post,

    Some of those ideas are already happening, like the buy anyware thing that thwy (a company from the US) wants to implement with a chip beneath your skin that will have all your bank information and that will allow you to just enter to a store grab what you want and leave (no face to face interaction, perfect for those who hate everybody).
  • I think:

    10 years from now the vision described (pervasive augmented reality, super-custom ads, always-online, all devices on internet) will be real

    but for only 30% of the population

    The other 70% will be dabbling in these things, but either too poor, too traditional, too techno-phobic, or too post-tech to be fully onboard.

    That's my prediction.

    I also expect there to be MORE web/development firms in 10 years because the possibilities of connected information and business are only starting to be realized. More techies will be needed in 10 years.
  • Great post and very interesting ideas! It's exciting, yet scary, to think how connected we might be in 10 years. Anonymity will likely be dead, which definitely has its pros and cons. One of my favorite ideas is the connected appliances - if my fridge could tell me when it needs a new water filter AND what groceries I need to buy, I would be thrilled!
  • Chip Hayner
    A few other ideas that we came up with:

    • The protocol for message sending will be uniform -- basically eliminating SMTP and other protocols that we consider "standard" right now. Sending a message TO somebody (an email) and broadcasting a message (like Twitter or Facebook status) will be technologically the same.

    • The User Interface design process will radically change, as developers will no longer have to just account for a single, rectangular interface, but will now have to account for the myriad of web-enabled devices of different sizes, shapes, resolutions, and interfaces.
  • Marissa
    Great entry. Something that we are all thinking about in business. Love seeing you all think big!
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