What is the future of the Internet?

With the advent of the Internet, email, and social media, everyone has easy access to everything from ordering food to reading the news, paying bills, and even traveling; it’sit'ser been easier or faster. But what does the future hold? What new technologies are on the horizon that could change our lives even more than current ones have? From 5G mobile data service and cloud computing to artificial intelligence and virtual reality headsets, here are some of the most significant developments on the horizon and what they could mean for the future of online life.

 

The Physical Network

There's a shortage of physical network options for cable, fiber, and copper. While there are some excellent ways to have blazing-fast Internet access, many consumers will opt for a plan with slower speeds at a lower price point. In most cases, all you need to stream movies and music is 4Mbps—8Mbps if you want to watch in HD—to give one person a good Netflix experience. In other words, cable plans might soon be cheap enough to compete with DSL and satellite in rural areas. The big takeaway: Don’t out cable just yet. If high-speed Internet matters most to you—and it does for nearly everyone else, too—you should probably look at broadband as an option instead of or as well as mobile data.

 

Connectivity

You can’t discuss the future of the Internet without first discussing why we need it in such a high volume. This week, Cisco announced that global data traffic is expected to hit 22.3 zettabytes per year by 2022, up from 15.4 zettabytes per year in 2017—roughly two billion more devices generating data daily. What many companies are striving for, for now, is hyperconnectivity, or a very large-scale version of what most people already experience on their cell phones and Wi-Fi-enabled laptops at home. After all, more access equals more content—and better connectivity makes it easier to access said content across various platforms and services.

 

The Future of Wi-Fi

A few months ago, Elon Musk built a high-speed tunnel from Washington, DC, to New York that only took 28 minutes. Today, he’she'snning to disrupt city traffic again with an idea called personalized mass transit, or hyperloop. It would travel up to 760 miles per hour and use solar panels to charge its batteries during off-peak hours. Meanwhile, Paris, France, has plans for its mass transit system: it will be powered by magnetic levitation and run on a track 50 feet in the air. You don’t need a train ticket; you can just tap your smartphone.

 

Cloud Services

Cloud computing services like Dropbox and Google Drive allow you to access your files from anywhere, but many still use desktop programs like Photoshop and Microsoft Office. AdobAdobe'sative Cloud service combines both worlds by allowing you to use their cloud-based app (such as Photoshop) or your desktop app, depending on your needs. If you're a heavy computer user, web-based versions might be a good option; they're accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. Remember that cloud storage also means sharing access to company data with everyone with access, which can be less secure than storing files locally on your hard drive or even in print form.

 

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality

Right now, virtual and augmented reality are making inroads into various industries, from entertainment to gaming to healthcare. Indeed, some people have gone so far as to predict that VR/AR will be bigger than mobile—and that is something! As with all new technologies (i.e., anything since computers), it is which ones will catch on and which ones will not; VR/AR is particularly well-suited for business because it enables users to interact with data in ways they never could before by p. Bying them directly inside it. That means these emerging tools can allow us to observe complex systems and understand and engage with them on a deeper level.

 

Data Storage

Current storage solutions are rapidly becoming obsolete, but magnetic tape is one data storage solution thatthat'se to stick around for a while. This technology has made business processes more efficient since its inception in 1951. Businesses frequently use magnetic tape to back up their most important information; it allows companies to recover quickly and efficiently when disaster strikes. A single piece of tape can store up to 2,300 gigabytes of data, so businesses do not have to worry about digitally preserving their most essential files. The magnetic tape also supports quick recall – businesses simply don’t need to spend time waiting for digital files to load before they can view them. These characteristics make magnetic tape ideal for fast access and reliable retrieval systems at low costs.

 

Artificial Intelligence

One of our biggest questions about AI in 2017 is if machines can fake it. Will we ever be able to create an artificial brain that can pass a Turing test? As machine learning and deep learning take off, we may soon see progress. We’ll also see more discussion about how much data computers need to learn; some companies are already pushing past commonly accepted notions. And finally, expect more conversation about how effective interfaces (like Alexa or Cortana) are at answering our questions and helping us with everyday tasks. In short, you'you'llrt talking to your computers even more than you do now (and by now, I mean two years ago). The conversation won'won'tays be pleasant.