On August 17, 2010, Wired magazine published an article called, The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet. It’s a good read. And yes, I believe it has value, as well, most of what they are saying rings true in my ears. But what exactly does this really mean to the average person? What does this mean to your business? How will this impact your clients/client-base?
The Internet has been evolving for a really long time, if you view the time-frame in computer time. Hell, a large percentage of those who use the web these days weren’t around when the Internet was born. How many Generation Y or Millennium Generation even know what Usenet, Archie or WAIS is?
Think about it for a moment. 1995. That was only sixteen years ago. A lot has changed in that time. Web 2.0 has come along. First generation “push technology” bombed. Facebook, MySpace, PlentyOfFish, Craigslist have all emerged in the past eleven years. In 1995 most people didn’t have cell phones. Now, just about everyone has a smartphone. In 1995 people who wanted to date, met at mixers or the local bar, or at a shared interest event. Now, more than one in five people meet online via dating sites or social media sites. In 1995 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) didn’t really exist. Now, corporations pay tens of thousands to get ranked on the first page of Google. Since 1995 the Dot.Com boom has come and busted. A generation of billionaires and millionaires was created via the Dot.Com era. Those people changed the face of business in western society. The use of diverse media to promote a company or a brand has evolved since 1995. End-users can now create content on the Internet, that can directly and indirectly impact a corporation’s profitability.
So, really, what does it mean to say “the web is dead”? The bigger questions to ask are, who cares and is it important to my business?
Technology evolves. And thank the gods for that. Can anyone old enough to remember the first generation Netscape browser, and those horrible pages from the mid-nineties, sincerely say they wished things hadn’t evolved? Can you sincerely say, if you are a smartphone user, that you don’t spend less time in front of a computer than when you didn’t have a smartphone? I know I can’t. I check four different email accounts, my Facebook, my LinkedIn, Twitter, Slashdot (and other tech related sites), Instant Message via AIM/MSN/FB-Chat all from my BlackBerry. This means I spend less time in front of a computer. I can be at the park with my daughter, and still get important emails and updates from peers/clients/friends via my phone. I’m sorry to all of you who are so tethered to your computer, but this to me is a wonderful step in the evolution of technology.
Technologies die. We all know this and we have all seen it. Innovate or die.
Coming next:
The Death of the Website
