Where does the internet end?

Sunday, December 6, 2009, 2:02 AM
Thoughts by John (Article #251)

A simple question often begs a difficult answer. As the internet expands, so too does our idea of the internet. At some point, the internet will become so ubiquitous that the idea itself will cease to exist and just become an abstraction that outlines how we explain what is a background task in our lives.

Some obvious examples exist. For example, an HTPC running Netflix and Hulu. Admittedly, those systems still feel very internetty. But, they're less internetty than how we did the same thing ten years ago: illegal downloading. Also, just removing the word "illegal" from any proposition makes it feel less internetty.

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There are less obvious, but still fairly sensible examples. SMS (txting, for the youth and phone crowds) exists at the junction between phone and email. In fact, it can interact seemlessly with both. And it has a slight network feel to it. Especially the super-primitive character limits.

And then there are the examples that make you feel like you live in the future. I've been working on a system for a client that handles retail scan tags. It adds or reduces inventory live in a manner that directly alters the website's stock of items. It's weird to think of a freakin tag as part of the internet. But, considering that it stores state data about a product available on the internet, the simple fact is it is a part of the web.

And as RFID, card swipe and other uniquely identifying systems become more widespread, we as individuals and all of our actions are increasingly part of the internet. With each year, our lives themselves are lived as nodes of an interconnected society. Sure, we can sort of evade being logged. But, short of living in a cabin in the most remote parts of Wyoming, we're being recorded and stored every day in increasingly public ways.

We're approaching the point where the internet doesn't have an actual end. It just is.

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Wonder where to start with your web design business?

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Thank you,
John Crawford
Pro Content and Design