We are faced with a new age of technology and conducting business. The turn of the millennium is a pivotal realization of our accomplishments and aspirations. What we have accomplished so far is only the beginning of a grander scheme, and time will shortly reveal our greater achievements.
The Internet has opened new doors for businesses, while crushing those who failed to take immediate advantage of it. The Internet has also created diverse and dependent links between businesses and customers. Through this new medium, businesses are beginning to create vast and highly integrated networks between each other in order to supplant and accelerate their business processes.
The stock market has also taken delight towards the incredible growth of the technology market. Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of new and hot Internet companies have taken market indices through the roof. Despite the fact that such incredible growth has strictly been driven by hype and excitement about new technologies, a continued growth will be seen over the next few months. Expect the true valuations of the technology market to take heed early next year as the market begins to adjust itself. These inflated stock earnings will take a beating, as history has shown in the past.
As we look ahead into the future and what the Internet will yield for consumers and businesses, several notions are in clear sight:
- The convergence of the Internet with large home appliances (televisions, refrigerators etc.)
- The convergence of the Internet with transportation vehicles (airplanes, automobiles, trains etc.)
- The complete migration of home/office software from personal computers to the Internet delivered by Application Service Providers (ASPs)
- The high availability of free personal computers packaged with streaming advertising, Internet access, video/image editing, personal and business software
- The continued emergence of improved “intelligent devices” capable of Internet access (e.g. cellular phones and Personal Digital Assistants)
- The replacement of archaic of mainframe systems with high end Intel/AMD based computers
- The growth Linux into back-end servers and business hosting systems
- The wide availability of broadband via Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) and cable modems
As we move into these new technological tidal waves, the Internet will begin to transform from a do-it-yourself to a do-it-for-me system. This will enable consumers to focus on their personal lives, and businesses to make critical decisions effectively and knowledgably. Through the use of “personal brokers” or “personal agents”, consumers will be able to assign tasks to their computers and “intelligent devices” (e.g. purchasing the cheapest digital camera, buying tickets for the family to a sports game at the lowest price etc.).
All e-Terms (e.g. e-Commerce, e-Business etc.) will eventually converge into one widely used term: business. “Business as usual” will consist of doing business electronically, rather than by traditional means. Large and small businesses will begin to take full advantage of the Internet in order to reach and maintain their customers.
The rapid emergence these new technologies will evolve those in touch with technology into a more creative and productive entity. Free time will be converted to productive time, and businesses, along with their consumers, will benefit from each other symbiotically. Businesses and consumers will begin to function on an “Internet time” while using a myriad of mobile and high-availability network services almost anywhere in the world.
If your New Year’s resolution is yet undecided, and you have not begun to take grasp of what is to come, here is some advice: as one of your New Year’s resolutions dive into this stream of technology head first and prosper…