Ashish on technology and social media

World wide web has come far from where it started its journey in late 1980’s as a system to share data and share research papers without need to have access to common computers.

Powered by Internet technologies and ever increasing bandwidth and cheaper and more powerful computing power and storage, it still fulfills its original purpose - to share information.

But rather than a just a repository of hyperlinked documents it was once, it has taken a life of its own and become a daily part of life of billions of people.

It powers commerce. Connects people. Distributes Media.

It is TV, it is radio, it is newspaper, it is magazine, it is on demand and it is everywhere.

I can buy, sell and advertise on web. I can book travel. Do banking transactions and see my statements. Pay bills. Trade stocks. Find nearest pizza shop. See my calender.
Connect to and chat with like minded people. Blog my thoughts. It is a virtual place where I meet my friends and make new friends. Plan an event and invite people. Share my memories with friends and family. Get help and advise. Raise money and find volunteer for social causes. I can collaborate on web. It is interactive and it is fast.

So what is missing?
It is too general. It is hard to personalize. Services are not connected. Very scattered. It has a lot of information but does not aggregate information and present it in a form which is useful. It does not remember. It is not intelligent. It does not anticipate my needs. Its success has become its challenge. Too much data. It is safe and it is not safe. It is very hard to regulate and we do not want to regulate it. It has lot of stuff which I do not want my kids to see or even myself to see.

It was not intended to be all these.

But now the participants (not users or readers anymore) in Web want it. The next evolution of the web.

Next generation web will be what it is currently and more. It will be

• Web as a platform and web as services and people weaving those services to build something more useful than its parts.
• Semantic web - Something that not only humans but machines can understand and provide humans and other machines value added services.
• Intelligent data mining and predictive engines running on Google’s and Yahoo’s vast databases. Powering search and personalization. Predicting your needs.
• Web connected to computers, homes, appliances, mobile and wearable devices.

A truly interconnected world.