Vision of the Media World - 5 Years from Now

            The current trend is to make technology more accessible to all in every application possible.  With touchscreen technology, we are beginning to embrace applications that are easy to implement and easy to use.  The days of intense training to use computer software are beginning to become our past.  Touchscreen apps are being created daily that interact with the user in order to make the computer experience and the web available to everyone.  The sky is the limit with this technology and as man embraces it, we may begin to communicate in ways that we have never known before.  Eventually, we may see the touch panel be replaced completely.  Down these lines, projection will be used more often.  No longer will people be restricted to viewing through a monitor, but will be able to view in any surface capable of receiving projection.  As we’ve seen with the Raspberry Pi, devices will become smaller and less expensive, making them available to everyone.  Beyond that, other devices like Google Glass will expand access to the Internet in many more ways than are possible a this moment.

            One has to think mobile.  That's the way it's going.  From the connection technology, security/privacy technology, to application development, hardware development, accessibility development, media development, development of access through other types of devices (like television, cars), development of data repositories and databases for open data, to development of storage.  Storage and security/privacy of data will be the biggest issue in years to come.

The web will become:

• Accessible anywhere because of the rise of 3G and 4G networks and the likelihood of nationwide Wi-Fi to blanket large geographic areas.  When the FCC had an auction for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum, Google joined as a bidder, arousing speculation that they were looking to turn the spectrum into a nationwide Wi-Fi network.  Although Verizon won that deal, this sort of network is still very possible. 
• Web access will not focus around a computer as it does now.  At present, most of us in the US focus our Internet usage on our laptops.  In Japan, most access the web through their phones.  This trend is quickly sweeping the US.  Internet-enabled TVs will allow browsing from living rooms and eventually our cars will become Wi-Fi hotspots. 
• The web will be more media-centric.  Text based interactions are going to diminish as more devices adopt touchscreen interfaces and alternatives to the keyboard and mouse.  Voice-to-text technology will be a huge player in this.  The way the technology is improving, within a few years it will be a viable replacement to our keyboards and mice.  Interfaces that rely on motions are going to be hugely important as well.  This technology in cell phones has improved exponentially in the past few years and is expected to grow even more as merchandisers realize the importance of reaching target audiences through their mobile devices.  More people are likely to purchase through their mobile units and this is going to be a major player in where this technology is going.  It's going to simply be about apps, drag and drop and an immersive experience.
• Social media will become the web's largest component.  More and more people are using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and social interaction is becoming the focus of online interactions.  Put it simply, humans are social creatures.  This is huge to all of us, on a global and personal basis. 
• Communication through different languages will become readily available.  Right now, the top two languages on the web are English and Chinese.  People are not only going to be learning new languages, but embracing them as translators grow in popularity and become more and more sophisticated. 
• One web for everyone.  That's the vision of the W3C … with principles, accessibility, internationalization, W3C offices, translations, etc. 
• Mobile growth and potential, the push for good user experience. There will be effective delivery to all mobile devices throughout the world, leveraging existing web standards. 
• The web will be more centralized as the major players become more powerful on the Internet.  With acquisitions happening every day, it will not be long before the little guy is squeezed out and the big guys rule.
• There will be more Open Source development as small-time developers become more and more sophisticated.
• The Internet will be faster and cheaper as technology improves. 
• Writing and reading on a personal level will dramatically change.  They say we will write more in shorthand, but I believe communication styles will change.  No longer will there be the soapbox format, but more of real time, dynamic dialogue … between all sorts of people, no more language (speaking and/or disability) barriers, no more geographic barriers.
• Lack of online anonymity.   It will happen.
• More wired applications - apps will increase, pretty soon everything we do online will be mobile through the use of apps.  Applications will soon be streamlined and the tedium of the past will no longer exist for most.
• Personal ID Number - some say it's coming.  I believe so.
• More processes will move online - no more brick and mortar, storefronts.   Just in time warehousing will be huge.
• Cloud computing will take over the existing technology.  Soon everyone will be on a cloud in one form or fashion.
  

            It is said that social networking will become the number one way we interact on the Internet.  I feel it will become the major way we interact when we are not socializing face to face.  It is only a matter of time before all social networking sites provide live video streaming and multi-language translation features.  This technology will soon absorb marketing and promotion activities.  Imagine the ability to communicate either by voice, touch, gesture or facial recognition.  The technology is here now and soon, it will be available to all of us.  Take it a bit further by imagining being able to communicate to any one in any language whether you or they can speak, hear or are capable of higher intelligent thought.  From being able to nod an affirmative to a simple response to someone on a mobile device, to sending alerts in cases of emergencies … this is the primal communication factor that will be achieved by the web before we know it.  We will be able to communicate to animals and inanimate objects.  There are already apps in development that animals are using easily and efficiently.  We can already signal our homes to turn lights on and off, but take this to another level where we can control the smallest detail of something in different geographic locations all over the world.  Add these ideas to social networking and you have an animal that can interact with other people and animals in ways that will only grow as the discovery takes on in popularity.  With storefronts, brick and mortar, expensive real estate being replaced with just in time inventory systems between the consumer and the supplier, the middle- man may disappear.  We could be ordering through our mobile phones with touch screen drop and drag directly off an assembly line in China.  If there was a decision to be made on that shipment, it could be up to us instead of the shipper.  We could even grab the item and sell it to someone else. 

            Right now artists, musicians, writers and many of our creative people depend upon luck of the draw in being able to create and share their creations with the rest of the world.  Social networking will take this luck of the draw to a new level in giving the opportunity for the individual to market his or her ideas to the world in new formats that are growing exponentially.  No longer will the middle-man be involved in distribution, nor could they take royalties or steal from the creative individual.  As more people realize the opportunities that exist for them to be able to not only be able to create, but be able to make a decent living doing so, our world will be brightened by the arts, music and literature. 

            The media is moving from control by large corporations and governments to the people.  Freelance journalists can report by way of cellphones, streaming activities happening all over the world.   Amateurs are also getting in on the game and competing side by side with the major news media players.  As people watch and compare both broadcasts, they will become more objective and critical of what they view and will move to a more democratic means of obtaining information.  The world will become smaller as we embrace these outlets and are able to bypass language barriers.

            There will be more transparency in government, both in the US and worldwide.  With the advent of all these things, we could see a world where we know more of what is going on and be able to make the wise and right choices.  Google will continue to be a huge player as it grows in providing more and more access to their products.  Small ISPs will be wiped out by the larger players like Verizon and AT&T.  The mass media audiences we know today will disappear with increased competition for people’s attention.  This will challenge those companies who are used to advertising to stable audiences.  Niche audiences will begin to disappear, but this challenge will be met through syndication and aggregation of content.  As web access becomes available to all, newspaper companies will be forced to phase out of print into web based circulation.  This will impact the media in how it will remain distinct and relevant to readers.  In turn, those accustomed to controlling profitable local monopolies will have to change their business practices.  There will be more audience fragmentation and as we become more global, state intervention will less consequential.  As the digital divide closes, scheduled television will be a thing of past, as it becomes gradually replaced by the Internet.  Just about everything that can be digital, will be digital.  The challenge lies in finding new strategies for marketing and advertising.  The media companies that will be important are those who overcome these challenges and are able to reach larger markets.  They look to globalization to increase their markets.  The popular media will grow, while the elite media will have to look to new ways to retain viewers.  Still, advertising will move to social networking with emphasis on bandwagoning, branding, and customer loyalty.

References

Rulemaking (n.d.). Future of Media. Retrieved from http://www.fcc.gov/rulemaking/10-25 

Sterkenburg, T. (2012). What’s the future of communication? Let’s ask the experts. TNW Network All Stories RSS. Retrieved from http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/07/15/whats-the-future-of-communication-lets-ask-the-experts/

Tewksbury, D., (2003).  What do Americans really want to know? Journal of Communication, 53(4), 694-710

Webster, J.G., (2011).  The Duality of Media:  A Structural Theory of Public Attention, Communication Theory, 21(1), 43-66

Weijen, D.v. (n.d.). Research Trends  Research Trends RSS. Retrieved from http://www.researchtrends.com/issue-31-november-2012/the-language-of-future-scientific-communication/