Breaking Down Barriers

The main advantage of any new technology is that it amplifies

human potential. In the 20th century, electricity, the telephone,

the automobile and the airplane all made the world more accessible

to more people, transforming our economy and society in the process.

The Internet has the same revolutionary impact—individuals and

businesses can overcome geographical, cultural and logistical barriers

and improve the way they live and work. Because it amplifies our

potential in so many ways, it’s possible that the long term impact of

the Internet could equal that of electricity, the automobile and the

telephone all rolled together. How?

The Internet makes the world smaller. The ability to communicate

and exchange information instantaneously and across vast distances

has enabled more individuals and businesses to participate in

the economy, regardless of their location. Large companies can

connect with employees, suppliers, and partners around the globe,

and small businesses can find their customers anywhere in the world.

Businesses can hire knowledge workers almost regardless of where

they are, greatly expanding employment opportunities for people in

the United States, and giving developing nations the ability to

become economic powerhouses by providing information technology

services to the rest of the world. The Internet, along with other

computer technologies, is literally enabling some developing

countries to “leapfrog” the industrial revolution and jump straight

to the Internet Age.

The Internet brings people closer together. Before the Internet,

it was possible to keep in touch with relatives and friends across

the country or around the world—but it was also expensive. Today,

communicating with a friend in Japan is as easy and cheap as

communicating with a friend across town, and families regularly use

the Internet to keep in touch with far flung relatives. Millions of

people with shared interests—no matter how obscure—exchange

information and build communities through Web sites, email and

instant messaging software. Using innovative accessibility aids,

people with disabilities can use the Internet to help overcome

barriers that.prevent them from leading more productive and

fulfilling lives.

The Internet makes the world simpler. For businesses, the

Internet breaks down logistical barriers, offering greater flexibility

and power in the way they do business. It shrinks time and distance,

simplifies complex business processes, and enables more effective

communication and collaboration—a giant corporation can now be

as nimble as a tiny startup, while a family firm located in a remote

rural village now has the world as its marketplace. Combined with

advanced productivity software, the Internet enables individual

knowledge workers to use their time more efficiently, and to focus

on more productive tasks. And it gives consumers the ability to shop

smarter, to find the best products at the right prices. In fact, it

empowers them in ways that once were available only to large

companies, enabling them to join with others to buy products at lower

prices, and bid competitively around the world.

What ’ s Next?

The Internet has already revolutionized the way we live and

work, but it is still in its infancy. In the coming years, a combination

of cheap and powerful computing devices, fast and convenient

Internet access, and software innovations could make the Internet

as common and powerful a resource as electricity is today.

Today, most people access the Internet through their home or

office PC, but as microprocessors become cheaper and more powerful,

Internet access will also be available from a wider range of smart

devices, from tablet sized PCs to smart cellular phones — even familiar

household appliances. People will be able to share information

seamlessly across devices and interact with them in a more natural

way, using speech, handwriting and gestures. Eventually, they will

be able to interact with a computer almost as easily as they do with

each other.

And all this computing power will be interconnected, as high speed

Internet access becomes available in more areas and in many different

ways, both wired and wireless. Advances in communications

technologies, along with increasing public demand for Internet access,

will eventually ensure that Internet connectivity will be commonplace

at home, at work or on the move.

Communication between devices on the Internet will be greatly

enhanced by new Internet standards such as XML, which offers a way

to separate a Web page’s underlying data from the presentational

view of that data. Whereas HTML uses “tags” to define how data is

displayed on Web pages, XML uses tags to provide a common way of

defining precisely what the underlying data actually is. XML

“unlocks” data so that it can be organized, programmed and edited.

This makes it easier for that data to be shared across a wider range of

PCs, servers, handheld devices, and “smart” phones and appliances.

While today’s Internet consists of isolated “islands” of data that are

difficult to edit, share and integrate, tomorrow’s Internet will break down

those barriers and enable people to access and share the information

they need — regardless of whether they’re accessing the Internet from

their PC or any other device.

All these advances will soon create a ubiquitous Internet —

personal and business information, email, and instant messaging, rich

digital media and Web content will be available any time, any place

and from any device.