The web experience is constantly evolving. Every year we not only advance the technologies that make it better linearly, we also expand the number of technologies that can be made better making it better exponentially.
Very few fields work like this: forecasting the state of the internet from the state of its parts is like counting the number of people in a room of moving people. But let's try anyway!
What web technology do you think will most significantly change/improve the world? What is being understated or overstated?
Here are some nominees (or introduce your own!):
Godspeed
5G and fiber optics will greatly increase download and upload speeds. But who will get it when? Limits on rollout mean many people won't feel the difference for a while, but what about those who get this supercharge?
Quantum Leap
Quantum computing similarly moves computational power to new heights. If you think big data is juicy today wait until the quantum interpretation. Access will be limited to big players for a while; personal quantum computing might be many years off.
The Invasion
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are moving the online offline. The perks of native programming might not qualify it for survival as the tech powers that be channel innovation into web tech. It's already here though, and is splashing more like a Magikarp at the moment.
Speaking My Language
Web Assembly is bringing all the languages under one roof. The web is poised to become a melting pot welcoming all the advantages and diversity of the entire world of programmers and programs in the browser.
According to Protocol
HTTP/3 and QUIC is upgrading the bridge between server and client to new levels. This mass of changes will improve security, speed, and traffic management for everyone who uses it, and will be especially impactful in areas with less reliable and fast coverage at no additional cost.
Tell us what you think!
PS bonus points for sharing about equity and accessibility :*
Top comments (2)
For wealthier parts of the world, we have another shift in the making. Countries like the US and China are constantly fighting for new technological frontiers. I have been contemplating the possibility of centralized computing with the advent of 1GB/s up and download speeds and quantum computing.
I'm sure quantum computers will need specific physical structuring and companion software to do computing for millions of people. I think it would be fantastic if gaming was performed on one massive quantum computer and streamed to devices all over. Lower latency and cost, and more users and access. We could end up in a Ready Player One world!
Or these technologies could be used for cheaper and smarter AI which would fall a lot closer to an I Robot world. Anyway though, we are poised to become a lot more knowledgeable as a species and sciences should see an uptick because of it. Most human labor will easily be replaced by robots in our lifetime. This is at least a decade away so I am not holding my breath though (yet)
(I guess I'll start 🤪) I'm interested in the way the internet affects globalism. I think together WASM and HTTP/3 will grow the internet two-fold.
Only about 59% of the world are "internet users." As the internet gets more universally accessible by shrinking the demands on the network, more people will become active. HTTP/3 will affect everyone but no one more than the 2.8 billion people in Asia and Africa that aren't connected. With smaller more efficient programs written on lower level languages like Rust (🥰) and compiled to WASM, weaker devices will have an easier time handling the demands of the programming future.
As more internet users build new markets and there's a shift toward global equity, the economic and cultural landscape of the world will shift to include a much wider variety of people for whoever chooses to engage with it.