The Future of the Internet

After spending a whole semester on the internet and learning about many tools and programs that I had never known about, the future of the internet seems to be boundless.

Already, new programs and applications are being created everyday. Connectivity has crossed from just computers to mobile phones in the last few years. Everyone can constantly be updated about each other from all over the world.

Furthermore, just this year, the internet capabilities of smart phones have assisted in revolutions in Egypt and in connecting family members caught in Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster when the mobile network was down.

The pace at which the internet is developing is unlikely to slow. Through computers and mobile phones, the internet has already made inroads into our daily lives.

Personally, I feel that the internet is likely to become connected to almost every part of our lives, from daily household chores to luxury hobbies.

However, I am not sure if that is a development I am looking forward to. To be constantly connected.

In the now, simply turning off the connectivity devices can cut one off from the buzz of the internet. On the other hand, in the future, if the internet becomes indivisible from our every little move, will we become overly reliant on it - and therefore unable to live without it?

For some teenagers, living without internet connection is almost unthinkable. Yet those who are slightly older will remember when the internet did not constantly demand our attention and buzz us with every detail possible.

While the expansion of the internet seems limitless and has no doubt, benefitted us in many ways, I feel that an important point is not to let the internet overwhelm and replace the role of the human aspect in our daily relationships and activities. The internet is a tool and not a person. So depending on the direction that we push it in, it could become either our best friend, or our greatest distraction.

Google vs. Apple

Right now, Google and Apple are two of the largest companies in the software/hardware industry.

Experts have traced and noted the competition between the two companies for awhile now: first the iPhone, then the Android smartphone, the iPad and now the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Is that to say that Google is constantly playing catch-up? I highly doubt that. I believe that right now at least, the competition between the two has only yielded pretty even results.

However, an advantage that Google possesses definitely lies in their power in the World Wide Web and the tools that they have created for it. For one, the Google search engine is the most popular one being used, and arguably the most efficient. Added with tools like Google Documents, Google Reader and Google groups, all tools of great convenience and efficiency, I would say that the future for Google is looking bright.

On the other hand, while the iPhone market is no doubt alive and flourishing, Apple probably has stabbed itself in the foot (at least a little), by making the iPod near-obsolete. With all the capabilities built into the iPhone, the iPod has become unnecessary. And in all honesty, the iPad is no longer a necessity as well.

Perhaps for Apple, it's real advantage still lies in its computers, especially the Macbook Pro, which is still considered widely as the most ideal computer to use - fast, efficient, with hardly any virus issues as well as a clean, sleek interface.

The competition in the land of smartphones remain fierce however, and feedback is mixed. While those individuals with more technological knowledge hail the Android as superior, most individuals (like myself) still prefer the simple and user-friendly way that the iPhone operates.

Well, with the different edges each one possesses, I predict that competition would probably remain around for awhile. As a consumer who will enjoy the benefits of their progress, I look forward to it.