GLOBAL – There’re plenty of opinions flying around about the Internet and what’s going to happen beyond today. One that seems increasingly prevalent though is that the Internet is fast becoming a utility, almost as necessary as electricity. Whilst that’s true, surely it has to be more than that. The Internet as a concept on its own is fine, but what makes it special is the stuff people share using the Internet. An Internet without any traffic is like an electricity cable without power – useless.
So what’s that got to do with the next generation? Well, it seems to be all about how we actually share stuff online. Up until now, sharing our
knowledge and experience online has been centred around the PC. After
all, how else can you share stuff online right? Well, the people behind
Nseries and Ovi have a slightly different view. They see the web as
still being made by people, but cutting the humble PC out of the loop.
By packing features and functionality into Nseries devices, and
connecting them to the Internet the PC isn’t the only onramp that’ll
take you onto the information superhighway.
Describing this concept as “made by hand” kind of makes sense. What
they’re trying to get across is that the power of building the Internet
and driving it forward really does come from the hand. You’re no longer
tied to one place, you can contribute from anywhere, with pretty much
anything you do. Take lifeviNe as an example of this and you instantly
get a picture of what they mean by “made by hand”.
Aapo Bovellan, Director Product Management on Ovi believes this change
is “as dramatic as the switch from landline phones to mobile phones”.
Significant then, and you know, I think he might just be right.
Increasingly I’m finding myself sharing more from my devices. Sure, the
Internet on the move gives me my email and access to information, but
the future potential of it goes so much further than that. And I’m more
than a little excited at the prospect. Your thoughts?