The Past, Present, and Future of the Web

The Web Today

The world wide web is such a popular mass media because it offers access to a vast amount of knowledge at your fingertips. This information can be accessed quickly and easily in most cases, providing convenience for the people wishing to access it.

Today, people enjoy the web not only for the information availble, but also for shopping without the hassle of going to a crowded mall, enjoying various forms of entertainment, for social networking purposes, for storing and submitting information, and even for paying bills.

Thus, the internet is developing more and more functions, and access to the internet is becoming easier and proving to be more vital for everyday life. For instance, the number of internet devices in 1984 was a mere 1,000, in 1992 it increased to 1 million, and in 2008, there were 1 billion. This number is still growing and will contine to grow at an extremely rapid pace.

The web is a much different mass media than other forms of media existent in the past. There is a lot of freedom given when using the internet, much more so than other mass medias, which many people find appealing. For instance, AM/FM and HD radio are all regulated by the FCC, however there is no regulation by the FCC on the internet.

In addition, it took radio 58 years to reach a market audience of 50 million, whereas it took internet only 4 years. With radio, certain radio stations can only be accessed at certain places at certain times, the same internet is open to people all over the world for access at virtually anytime.

What site you visit, what you listen to, and what you watch is up to the discretion of the user when on the internet. When listening to basic AM/FM radio, you can pick only what station you listen to, but not what music or programs are played on that station (although innovations such as HD Radio and Satellite radio are currently changing the way we listen to radio).

Imagining the web

We consider the web to be very “new” mass medium however, the concept of the web began in the 1960’s. Check out this video I found from 1969, explaining a very early interpretation of the ideology of the internet:

While this primitive portrayal seems almost comical, it did touch on some of the functions that our current internet carries out on a day to day basis. Most notably, these include online shopping and electronically storing account information and paying bills.

The Future of the Web
As time goes on, the internet will continue to grow vaster, more efficient, and more prominent in everyday life. For instance, in the next 3-5 years, the internet will be made faster and easier to access than ever. I believe technology will be developed that will allow access to the internet in devices other than just computers, phones, and cars, such as watches and showers. Check out this fascinating video, on the statistics of the internet, it’s growth, and predictions of the future: 

I believe that as time goes on, the need for paper will be less and less. All bill paying will be online, other media such as books and newspapers will be published online, and papers in schools will all be submitted online.

Some credible sources, such as CNN, take it a step further, and predict that the internet available on devices such as smart phones will allow people to carry out variety of roles that we consider only human beings to be able to do. These include parking a car, doing one’s laundry, cooking dinner, and many other chores that most dislike having to do themselves.

Years from now, the web will be more advanced and innovative than we could possibly imagine today. I am almost certain that 43 years from today we will be able to access this post and chuckle at the predictions and relatively “primitive” ideas about the future, much like we did with the video from 1969.

But until that time, we simply will have to remember our humble roots, and continue to be amazed by the advancement in modern technology.