Name: Chad Norton

From: California

Bio: Internet User, Senior Research Engineer, Electrical Engineer

Area of Expertise: Technology Developer/Administrator

Topic: Controversial Issues

Headline: The Internet is too fast and too cluttered!

Nutshell: The internet of the future will be wide-band and wireless for the final link to the individual via small, personal "terminal devices" however the bandwidth will be clogged with useless data.

Vision: The internet has changed the way data, particularly technical data, is distributed to individuals. Previously information on everything from end items to a component part was provided via printed catalog. Today this information is available by online spec/data sheets. Design engineers no longer have to have "libraries" of data books/catalogs to create a new design. Email has allowed collaboration on a project to overcome distance and differing time zones.

In addition, the internet has brought an instantaneous medium for advertising, much of it worthless. Individuals will be inundated with unwanted information and email to get the needed/desired information. Culling the "wheat from the chaff" will become increasingly difficult. An enormous amount of money will be spent by service providers and users to develop the equivalent of a spam filter, probably using artificial intelligence, to manage the onslaught of data.

The internet caught on when 9.6- and 14.4-KBaud modems became the norm and performance was acceptable. Try using one today to read your email or visit one web site. The same information is there but but downloading all the unnecessary graphics, banners, advertising, spam, etc. makes it impossible. We'll get the wireless gigabit internet for everyone someday, but do we really need a way for someone to send out ten million spam emails a second?

Date Submitted: 11/22/2004