We’ll travel in style on the super highway
When aeroplanes were first invented, pilots wore goggles, long scarves and heavy coats. They loved the feel of the wind rushing over their faces.
Today, if you fly across the Atlantic, you are inside a serene, user-friendly flying cinema and can forget you are travelling at all.
The sophistication of the technology means you can take the flying for granted. The internet is going through a similar evolution.
When it was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, it was a tool for technicians.
As it reached the zenith of the first stage of implementation, it was an exciting, wind-in-the-face novelty that was gradually starting to make inroads on consumers.
People buying things from internet websites appreciated its convenience but they were still very conscious of “using the internet”.
But the internet is heading beyond that first phase. We are now living in the world of Web 2.0. As with other technologies that are reaching maturity, we are starting to take it for granted.
People using Web 2.0 applications will be less aware they are on the internet because the internet has become part of their lives and they think about the application rather than the technology.
Of course, it is only possible for users to have this focus on the application when the technology is effective enough to support it.
We travel in flying cinemas because aircraft manufacturers have mastered the art of building large jets that are safe and comfortable.
Similarly, the Web 2.0 phase of the internet is possible because internet technology has developed to the point where broadband is widely and relatively inexpensively available, where customers are adept at getting online using desktop computers or
