"With
the development of the Internet, we are in the middle of the most transforming
technological event since the capture of fire. I used to think that it was just
the biggest thing since Gutenberg, but now I think you have to go back
farther" -- John Perry Barlow
Introduction…
The Internet as it stands is
ruled by the Web (i.e.
the World Wide Web). Though not exactly the Internet itself,
the World Wide Web (WWW)
is what most people know as the Internet
. One can say the WWW is the glory of the Internet today. The Internet is now nearly half a
century old; and with the Web
introduced over a quarter of a century ago, it will not be odd to start asking
the hard question of whether it's headed the right way or not. What initially
started as somewhat in-house connection between US military mainframe computers
has become the platform for multi-faceted global connections. The society, individuals,
corporate bodies, large enterprises, SMEs –all ride at the crest of these
revolutionary technologies – the Internet and Web While this is good,
there are lots of other bad stuff that equally thrive on the existence of these
technologies. Hacking, Identity-theft, Cyber-stalking – are just but a few of
them. With these, can one say the introduction of the Internet and Web to the public was a
mistake? Would it have been better, had we left the military with their Internet, where who uses it can
easily be monitored? Or has the world bitten more than it could chew by letting
everyone "own" the Internet?
Has it become too loose and open? Has it made us more vulnerable than ever to
cyber related attacks? These are just a few questions that come to mind when
one thoroughly considers the dangers and threats the Internet and Web inherently holds.
But then, let’s not jump into conclusions just yet, it will be too hasty and
unfair.
Impacts...
The Internet and Web have transformed the
way business is done today, not necessarily making it easier but convenient.
Before now, the market used to be a physical place where goods and services are
displayed for sale. Thanks to the net and Web, it’s no more just physical but
also virtual. With an internet-enabled device, one can perform same business
transactions (as with physical market) in a series of clicks and without necessarily
the buyer and seller ever coming in contact. It doesn't matter whether it’s a
tangible good such as buying groceries or intangible ones such as topping your
prepaid SIM with airtime over the net; neither does it matter whether you’re at
the convenience of your bedroom or in the hot seat of boardroom meetings. Once
you're online, the magic is endless.
Let's bring it closer home; the social
networking sites rank as the most visited of sites. The sharing of pictures,
thoughts and moments with families, friends and acquaintances are all the
exceptional reasons one needs to love these sites. All these wouldn't have been
possible had the Internet remained
only a top US military secret or the Web stashed away in Mr.
Berners-Lee's archive.
They say words travel fast, right? Well, it
has never traveled faster than what it is in this Internet age. The news breaks
in Myanmar and within seconds, someone in Rio De Janiero, Brazil gets it.
That's how fast words can travel on the Internet. And there are
listeners everywhere.
Of course, there are other positive impacts
of the Internet and Web apart from these
major ones highlighted. Generally, the Internet and subsequently the
Web has enabled the
world to truly become a global village, where anyone can be connected to anyone no matter which part of the
world you reside...though at a cost.
The
downside...
Cybercrimes are a
major downside one has come to associate with the Internet and Web. Other downsides of
the technologies may look subtle but same can't be said of cybercrimes. It's
brutal and instantly damaging. There's this saying that wherever the rate of
return on investment is high and the risk is low, you are bound to find people
willing to take advantage of the situation – this is exactly the case with
cybercrime – low risk, high gain. Everybody is a target – the government, big
corporations, individuals – nobody’s left out. Thanks to the nature of the Internet and Web, perpetrators of
such crimes can almost walk away untraceable. Varieties of this crime include
Hacking, Theft, Cyber Stalking, and Identity Theft.
A rather subtle but increasingly frequent
downside of the existence of the Internet and Web is the huge pile of
misleading information being sent and hoisted on them. It's no longer news that
not everything one sees, hears or reads on the Web is true or to be
believed. This is because contents on the Web these days are
hardly genuine. The ubiquitous-ness of the Internet and Web also implies that
anyone, anywhere can post/upload contents; whether it's genuine, verified or
not. The real pain is the time and energy it saps from one digging through the
pile of misleading contents in order to find what you're actually looking for.
It's frustrating. Some institutes even disregard materials gotten from the Web for research work.
Today, it's no surprise young people will rather
surf the net with their mobile devices than go to a family vacation or attend a
family reunion. In the process of connecting the world through technologies
such as the Internet and Web we seem to have
lost the true connection itself – holding hands, hugs, crying/laughing
together, taking walks together, etc. The Internet and Web has brought a form
of self-seclusion; this weak sense of personal(selfish) entertainment that
constantly fools us with the illusions of being better than physically spending
and sharing moments and time with family, friends and acquaintances. The bottom
line is, the Internet and Web seem to be subtly
stripping us of our basic humanity.
Again, these are only a few of the downsides of
the Internet and Web. Other seemingly
minor ones have not been mentioned e.g. how the Internet and Web have contributed to
making most humans lazy. In fact, this review is too small to account for all
forms of Internet and Web related harms.
The
future...
What
Would the Internet look like in the years to come?
A common thing that usually happens when a
technology becomes so powerful is that people's desire for greater and more potent
capabilities with that technology increases. The Internet has
become so powerful today, that there's inherently nothing one cannot use it to
accomplish. People's expectations have risen: their taste have changed. They
have become more vicious with their demands for greater capabilities with the Internet.
Succinctly, humans want to accomplish more with the Internet. They want to more
than just connect their computers and phones. They want to more than just share
pictures and videos online. They want a "spirit" Internet. Yes, you
heard me right - a "spirit" Internet. Something that will give life
to every non-living thing around us. This new kind of Internet will enable your
alarm clock to tell your car to go and pick the children from school
immediately it's 1:45pm completely on its own while you take a nap. An Internet
that will set the fridge, oven, pots and microwave in motion to prepare dinner
for you and your family collectively on their own while you catch the six
o'clock train from work. This "spirit" Internet will be to objects
what air is to man - life. After all, it's ubiquitous, just as air (Oxygen) is.
It will be a spirit that will give coherency to and among all non-living
things. It will give birth to a new kind of automation, more comparable to life
itself. It will allow humans to remotely command and control things. It will
allow humans to do EVERYTHING without moving an inch. This is what the Internet,
our Internet will look like in the nearest future - a truly ubiquitous
"spirit" Internet.
The world is well on its way to achieve this
given the rise of IoT (Internet
of Things) and IoE (Internet
of Everything).
Conclusion...
The very existence (and survival) of the 21st
century global civilization to a great extent holds sway to the invention of
the Internet and Web. Individuals,
corporations and businesses that have accepted the Web thrive on it and reap
its benefits. Then again, there's no skepticism about the dangers and threats
it poses. From my angle, I will say the dangers and threats surrounding the Web and Internet shouldn't quench our
rightly vested interest and use of the technologies; rather it should spur one
to consciously implement known online safety tips and even create new/better ones. From an
inventor's perspective, I will say no invention has a one-way seal of good or
evil; it's the hand that uses it that determines whether it's for good or evil.
In other words, the Internet
and Web might
actually not be the problem, but the people that use it. E.g. unscrupulous
hackers, that take advantage of the perceived weakness of the technology. The Internet
and Web are here to stay. They are now an integral part of everyday life.