Imagining the Internet

A Selection of Compelling Contributions

"Irrelevent, underused, the mind is the next network." - Val

"The internet and the information age will restructure our society fundamentally." - Rick Fleck

"The internet will transport us to any location we'd like, regardless of our geographical location." - Deb

"Human consciousness will be encoded. Space travel is as simple as beaming out copies of your consciousness. Cloning won't be a problem; copying your brain will." - Stuart

"The capabilities of the internet will allow for experiences so close to real life that people will forget to live." - Raquel

"A smaller world makes for a cheap labor market." - Eric Hamilton

"More internet use will lead to low socialization and a diminishment of society." - Robert Taylor

"With increased visibility and communication, the corrupt will no longer be able to hide or enjoy their ill-gotten wealth." - Ashfaq Tunio

"Humans will evolve into a species with embedded devices that allow us to communicate." - Dan Geile

"Metaphysical implications of online communications will force our American community to address the fault lines in our culture." - Lyandra

"We will have the technology to implant the internet directly into our brains. This opens up new terrifying realities for hacking." - Jamie Boyd

"There will be a lack of original thought as people co-opt ideas of others." - PMD

"Intelligent programs will roam the internet, like a life form in its own environment." - Jeffrey Baker

"The successful implantation of some sort of "nano-bio-whatchamacallit" might herald in [a] new era." - Nicholas Compton

"We must evolve without becoming the Borg!" - Bob Gawecki

"The internet will extrapolate … dimensions…??We will be able to get in touch with our relatives, our friends and other people who had passed away." - Marco Veado

"It will forge entirely new types of thinkers, whose kaleidoscopic manipulation of digital media will culminate in an explosive proliferation of innovative discoveries." - Kim Vonder Haar

Voices of the people

Your Predictions Database
Browse through and click on the headlines below to read the fascinating foresight statements nearly a thousand people from around the world have shared in their contributions to the Imagining the Internet site. You can also do a refined search of the Voices of the People submissions by clicking here (search for specific topics, the predictors' area of expertise, the location of predictors or by keyword or date of prediction). If you'd like to submit your ideas to this online archive, simply look to the upper right corner of this page, click on "Share Your Prediction" and fill in the pop-up form.

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Your Submissions

Widespread panic will occur
The systems will crash and we will have no back-up systems. 4/9/2006

Developer's Virtual World
It will be possible to watch people make stuff. 4/1/2006

Augmented Reality in the Networked Future
Everything, everywhere will make image worthless - the final victory of substance over style. 3/10/2006

Semantic Knowledge and Idea Network
In short, humanity will become a hivemind and all people will be able to work together to contribute to collective progress. 3/10/2006

School days are out; online schools are in
The internet will replace our good ol' schools with home online schools. Shocking but possible... 3/5/2006

Most memory vulnerable to strong magnets
Within a few decades, a highly magnetically charged comet will pass close enough to the earth to render all telecom & computers ineffective 2/5/2006

The objectification of the social mind
Each human's mind is a social creation. Can we talk intelligently and collectively? 2/1/2006

Internet Scope Explodes
Handheld devices perform intelligent routing based on current context, so the Internet is truly pervasive and mesh-networked. 1/30/2006

Glasses of the internet...
Your eyeglasses will access the internet. 1/30/2006

Teleportation Technology Will Work
Molecular Teleportation will be invented within a few hundred years. 1/22/2006

Virtual Libraries, Movies and Shopping
Shopping and libraries offer virtual customer service. 1/20/2006

The Three-Five Day "FLOAT"
Financial institutions will have to "cut" back the number of float days that it takes a financial transaction to process. 1/13/2006

eCommerce in the developing countries
By 2020, the emerging countries will be connected through Internet. 12/27/2005

Education is Completely Redefined
Learning centers will redefine the foundation of elementary education standards. 12/14/2005

Obesity crisis solved in cyberspace
Before 2012 most obesity problems will be solved thanks to computer games. 12/13/2005

Damaging Control by Big Telcos in League with Government
Increasingly, the incumbent telephone companies in league with governments and telephone companies are succeeding in controlling the Internet 12/1/2005

Instant Transportation
Our bodies will be transported anyplace we wish, regardless of our geographical location. 11/28/2005

The Orchestration Age Erupts
This era will usher in extraordinary demands for new means and methods of expression, interaction and communication. It will forge entirely new types of thinkers, whose kaleidoscopic manipulation of digital media will culminate in an explosive proliferation of innovative discoveries. 11/7/2005

No privacy and rampant problems
Internet will become infected by viruses and hackers and there will be no secruity or privacy. 9/14/2005

Copy/Paste Living
So many pages, so little difference. 9/14/2005

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