Pew Study Predicts the Future of the Internet

Interesting study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project on the Future of the Internet.[PDF] The Pew Internet Project sent this survey to respected technology experts and social analysts asking them about the future of the Internet. Here is the summary of the findings:

• A broad-ranging survey of technology leaders, scholars, industry officials, and interested members of the public finds that most experts expect attacks on the network infrastructure in the coming decade. Some argue that serious assaults on the internet infrastructure will become a regular part of life.


• The internet will be more deeply integrated in our physical environments and high-speed connections will proliferate – with mixed results.


• In the emerging era of the blog, experts believe the internet will bring yet more dramatic change to the news and publishing worlds. They predict the least amount of change to religion.


• Experts are both in awe and in frustration about the state of the internet. They celebrate search technology, peer-to-peer networks, and blogs; they bemoan institutions that have been slow to change.