A vindeira Internet, segundo Google

Google está publicando no seu blog unha serie de artigos dos seus técnicos sobre como será Internet nos vindeiros anos. Con sentido práctico, o plan é falar sobre como Google será no 2010, e non moito máis alá, e os resultados da consulta pódense ver aquí. Esta é unha selección persoal dalgunhas das ideas que me parecen máis interesantes:

1. Ubicuidade móbil.

We can reliably expect that mobile devices will become a major component of the Internet, as will appliances and sensors of all kinds. Many of the things on the Internet, whether mobile or fixed, will know where they are, both geographically and logically. As you enter a hotel room, your mobile will be told its precise location including room number. (Vinton Cerf)

2. Integración e recoñecemento de obxectos

It will be normal for devices, when activated, to discover what other devices are in the neighborhood, so your mobile will discover that it has a high resolution display available in what was once called a television set. If you wish, your mobile will remember where you have been and will keep track of RFID-labeled objects such as your briefcase, car keys and glasses. (…) Power distribution grids, for example, will become a part of the Internet’s information universe. (Vinton Cerf)

3. Non hai fronteiras no concepto de software

The flexibility we have seen in the Internet is a consequence of one simple observation: the Internet is essentially a software artifact. As we have learned in the past several decades, software is an endless frontier. There is no limit to what can be programmed. If we can imagine it, there’s a good chance it can be programmed. (Vinton Cerf)

4. Prevención de pandemias

Google.org’s Predict and Prevent initiative is working with partners to use digital, genomic and IT technology to identify “hot spots” of emerging threats and provide early warning before they become global crises. (Larry Brilliant)

5. “Micro multinacionais” con técnicas de coñecemento cada vez máis avanzadas a través do buscador

These technological advances have led to the rise of “micro multinationals” which can leverage creativity and talent across the globe. (…) We think that Google can play a significant role in helping small businesses utilize the power of information technology. Our search technology provides answers to questions that only companies with large research libraries could answer decades ago. (Hal Varian)

6. O teléfono móbil como realidade aumentada

Your phone uses its arsenal of sensors to understand your situation and provide you information that might be useful. For example, do you really want to know how much is that doggy in the window? Your phone, with its GPS and compass, knows what you are looking at, so it can tell you before you even ask. Plus, what breed it is and the best way to train him. (…) Your phone will open up, as the Internet already has, so it will be easy for developers to create or improve applications and content. The ones that you care about get automatically installed on your phone. (Andy Rubin)

7. A nube intelixente

Traditionally, systems that solve complicated problems and queries have been called “intelligent”, but compared to earlier approaches in the field of ‘artificial intelligence’, the path that we foresee has important new elements. First of all, this system will operate on an enormous scale with an unprecedented computational power of millions of computers. It will be used by billions of people and learn from an aggregate of potentially trillions of meaningful interactions per day. It will be engineered iteratively, based on a feedback loop of quick changes, evaluation, and adjustments. And it will be built based on the needs of solving and improving concrete and useful tasks such as finding information, answering questions, performing spoken dialogue, translating text and speech, understanding images and videos, and other tasks as yet undefined. When combined with the creativity, knowledge, and drive inherent in people, this “intelligent cloud” will generate many surprising and significant benefits to mankind. (Alfred Spector e Franz Och)

8. Crecemento considerábel das emisións persoais de vídeo

Online video broadcasting will be the most ubiquitous and accessible form of communication. The tools for video recording will continue to become smaller and more affordable. (Chad Hurley)

9. Diversificación nos modos de busca e personalización dos resultados

In the next 10 years, we will see radical advances in modes of search: mobile devices offering us easier search, Internet capabilities deployed in more devices, and different ways of entering and expressing your queries by voice, natural language, picture, or song, just to name a few. It’s clear that while keyword-based searching is incredibly powerful, it’s also incredibly limiting. These new modes will be one of the most sweeping changes in search. (Marissa Mayer)