learning about the internet

What I've learned about the internet

Here is a quick list of things I've learned about the internet:

• The nature of mobile internet. How it works, how it's changed and is changing, and the exciting new ways in which it can be used. I feel that this is particularly pertinent for me at the moment as I am writing this from my brand new Samsung galaxy s3, which I can tell you without any doubt is better than that piece of hipster fanboy junk they call the iPhone.
• The origins of the internet. How it was created, why it was created, and the thing that has most interested me, the technology and actual hardware of the internet, optical fibres, servers and all that other good stuff.
• Just how to take advantage of the countless extra features companies like Google give us,  many of which I never knew existed, and some I didn't know how to use, like blogger.
• What it was like before I was alive. I've grown up with the internet, so it really doesn't seem too revolutionary, but it really is only a very recent concept, one which may or may not have changed our lives for the better. Those fond memories of Microsoft painter and dungeons and dragons are now long gone ; (.

Connectivity

The future of connectivity.
This video points out some very interesting things about where we, and the internet, are going. One of the first things this video pointed out was that we have no idea where government, business and education are going, and this made me think. In government, one of the main problems we have is the logistics and cost of election campaigns and actual voting, but with the vast majority of people in developed countries having easy access to the internet, online voting is becoming more mainstream. In just a few years we could have entire elections being carried out online, and referendums could be called with the click of a button, so that we may indeed live in a truly democratic society, with more people voting on more issues and the wishes of the people being carried out.
The increased role of the internet in business is also interesting to look at. Aside from the extremely fast boom-and-bust nature of the internet at the start of the millenium, which in itself could be analysed for years on end, the point which really interested me was that a boy, living in the UK, could with little or no logistical costs, sell products to people in Ghana using the internet. The ease with which financial transactions take place over the internet now is fascinating- indeed, the video even discusses the possibility of virtual currencies which are more valuable than real ones- 'Facebook Dollars' for instance. This connectivity could lead to truly global markets where distance becomes less than a minor inconvenience for sellers world-wide.
The other thing that really astounded me were the facts and figures given around 14:00. Most people talk online more than in real life. 1 in 6 marriages start online. Kids spend a third of their day with mobile devices.  Mobile searches have quadrupled in the past year. 50 billion devices connected by 2020. All this just signifies the rapidity with which the internet is booming. Chips are being installed into everything. Household objects are connected to the internet, supplying users with constant information. The sheer speed of all this growth is glory to behold.