When the Internet becomes Electricity

In the 19^th century scientists including André-Marie Ampère, Michael Faraday and George Ohm made discoveries which to this very day underpin the very substance of Western society. These individuals not only made key discoveries in the field of electricity but also paved the way for its useful application both as a commercial and domestic entity and formed the foundations of the second industrial revolution, which some say was fuelled by electricity.

Indeed, the early 20^th century saw an explosion in the growth of electronics with individuals such as Lord Kelvin (telegraphy), Alexander Graham Bell (telecommunications), Logie Baird (televised images) and many, many more whose inventions and discoveries would eventually turn electricity from a rare commodity to a basic need.

Speaking form a personal perspective, a few weeks ago I realized just how much I rely upon electricity when we had a power outage. I realised that not only was I unable to use the Internet to research my work, I couldn’t have a hot shower, watch T.V, power the central heating (even though it is gas), cook any food or hot drinks, wash my clothes and even use the phone (which relied upon mains as well as the power form the phone). The prospect of being without what was until this point my invisible slave was somewhat difficult to contemplate. My way of dealing with this was to go to a local coffee shop and order myself a fried breakfast.

The 20^th century would not only play host to the second industrial revolution however. After the first and second world wars research had begun into micro electronics and its applications in computing which had so far existed only as mechanical devices. In 1965 Gordon Moore made his famous prediction which would become a driving force behind the growth of integrated electronics in computer chips. It wasn’t until the early 1990s, however, that the next revolution would begin.

In 1990 Tim Barnes Lee and Robert Cailliau pioneered the first HTTP communication over the Internet and in 1993 the first graphical web browser (NSCA Mosaic) pushed the World Wide Web into a spiral of uncontrolled growth. So rapid was this growth it resulted in a huge rush from the commercial sector to cash in on its money making potential. Obviously, this rapid growth was unsustainable and the whole lot came crashing down in 2001.

Since, advances in high speed Internet connectivity have made the humble broadband connection available to all but a few of us and for today’s business a web presence is a must. In addition, the Internet is penetrating further into the lives of the individual; wireless allows connectivity to fade into the ether and reliability on online services such as web mail, photo and video sharing and online shopping is increasing. Many businesses now use VPN’s to allow employees to work on the go and from home. This has in turn increased the number of wireless hotspots.

In the 1990s the World Wide Web and all it had to offer seemed an exciting prospect, however, its infancy was demonstrated by what would become known as the dot-com-boom; businesses had to adjust their plans to fit the more competitive environments present in the real world to make it a viable commercial entity. The Internet is now coming of age and it is beginning to find its niche within the commercial sector. The growth of information technology and the so called digital revolution mirror the industrial revolutions of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The digital revolution is by no means over and the Internet is still very much in its teenage years. As with electricity we are beginning to see information technology and the Internet go down the path of ubiquity. There is often a lot of hype over the idea of a “ubiquitous Internet”, however, my opinion is that it will happen, but the transition will be a lot more subtle. We are living in interesting times as the next ten years will see the Internet mature and become the electricity of modern times.

So what are the implications of the Internet becoming our new electricity? To avoid confusion it should be noted that it won’t be a replacement for electricity and in fact nearly all Internet technologies require electricity in one form or another. Above, I outlined my personal experience of one hour without electricity and the restrictiveness it posed on my daily activities. If one day we are to rely on the Internet to this extent, not only will we have to worry about power cuts, but we will also have to worry about connectivity and availability, bandwidth and hardware.

The Internet is and will make the individual further reliable on technology and less able to function at the lower level; a good example is how many of you rely on your cell phone calculator to do maths, your sat-nav to get you to work every morning and a cleaner to tidy your underwear? What happens when you find yourself stranded in a jungle with no food, no phone signal, no GPS and no cleaner? The question is how much longer is this increasing reliability sustainable and what problems if any will it pose in the future?