The world is going to suddenly get VERY tiny!
I've run across some amazing glimpses of the future recently!
The world is fairly small already, but is going to get INCREDIBLY
tiny in the next couple of years!!
First, I happened across a free video lecture at MIT titled "The World Is Flat" posted on a website (LearnOutLoud.com) offering tons of free (and pay for) content.
Skip past the boring introducer, and listen to what Thomas Friedman has to say on how Globalization is going to affect us ALL very soon.
Next, just realize what "Web 2.0" is all about, of which social networks are a big part.
Look at online communities like MySpace, which allows people to connect on a more social level, keep in touch with friends, make new ones, share common interests, and a bit of their personal lives. Sites like SourceForge, which lets people connect and collaborate on software projects, creating awesome new (and usually free) applications of all types.. and with people across the world that you may never meet in person, and certainly would never have met without the net. Sites like Slashdot and Shoutwire which allows people to report (post links) to news stories they find, and then others in the community can rate them.. giving everyone a picture on which stories might be more important or interesting than others. Flickr lets you post photos where a community of others can comment on them, add them to and share collections, as well as helping to organize with "tags" for easy searching. GeoBloggers lets you add "push-pins" to an interactive world map, where you can add notes, photos, audio, video, etc to a place on the map, sharing these "locations" with others. SecondLife is a 3D virtual world environment built as a platform for social networking and business, but many "companies" in that world are geared toward providing entertainment to the masses that inhabit that world.
There are SO many new sites of this type in the last few years it's almost countless.
And more are coming on-line at even a faster pace!
Just like Thomas Friedman said... this is going to make collaboration so much easier that new projects will be able to start and complete faster. The sharing of ideas and opening up of projects to allow others to help work on and complete projects cause some need for adjustment... some jobs will be lost, others gained... employee salary will certainly be leveled on across the GLOBAL scale for many jobs, but overall the positives out-weight the negatives.
Of course other technologies that are going to contribute to this shrinking world are things like 3D faxing of objects, full body immersion in to virtual reality across the internet, as well as others, you may as well be in the same room as someone you're interacting with, or on the other side of the planet!
Watch this amazing Nokia video of how they plan to integrate instant local social networks via cell phones (available now)!
... and GeoMinder, where you can have your cell phone remind you of something when you (or anyone) arrive at a certain location.
What an amazing time we live in, and getting more so every day!
I'll continue to add more to the comments section as I find things.
You can feel free to do that too!
The world is fairly small already, but is going to get INCREDIBLY
tiny in the next couple of years!!
First, I happened across a free video lecture at MIT titled "The World Is Flat" posted on a website (LearnOutLoud.com) offering tons of free (and pay for) content.
Skip past the boring introducer, and listen to what Thomas Friedman has to say on how Globalization is going to affect us ALL very soon.
Next, just realize what "Web 2.0" is all about, of which social networks are a big part.
Look at online communities like MySpace, which allows people to connect on a more social level, keep in touch with friends, make new ones, share common interests, and a bit of their personal lives. Sites like SourceForge, which lets people connect and collaborate on software projects, creating awesome new (and usually free) applications of all types.. and with people across the world that you may never meet in person, and certainly would never have met without the net. Sites like Slashdot and Shoutwire which allows people to report (post links) to news stories they find, and then others in the community can rate them.. giving everyone a picture on which stories might be more important or interesting than others. Flickr lets you post photos where a community of others can comment on them, add them to and share collections, as well as helping to organize with "tags" for easy searching. GeoBloggers lets you add "push-pins" to an interactive world map, where you can add notes, photos, audio, video, etc to a place on the map, sharing these "locations" with others. SecondLife is a 3D virtual world environment built as a platform for social networking and business, but many "companies" in that world are geared toward providing entertainment to the masses that inhabit that world.
There are SO many new sites of this type in the last few years it's almost countless.
And more are coming on-line at even a faster pace!
Just like Thomas Friedman said... this is going to make collaboration so much easier that new projects will be able to start and complete faster. The sharing of ideas and opening up of projects to allow others to help work on and complete projects cause some need for adjustment... some jobs will be lost, others gained... employee salary will certainly be leveled on across the GLOBAL scale for many jobs, but overall the positives out-weight the negatives.
Of course other technologies that are going to contribute to this shrinking world are things like 3D faxing of objects, full body immersion in to virtual reality across the internet, as well as others, you may as well be in the same room as someone you're interacting with, or on the other side of the planet!
Watch this amazing Nokia video of how they plan to integrate instant local social networks via cell phones (available now)!
... and GeoMinder, where you can have your cell phone remind you of something when you (or anyone) arrive at a certain location.
What an amazing time we live in, and getting more so every day!
I'll continue to add more to the comments section as I find things.
You can feel free to do that too!
posted by rock808 at 12/04/2005 01:47:00 PM
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