The BBC has an article where prominent people in the development of the internet look back and look ahead. For example, Sir Tim Berners- Lee says:

“…The future is always in the past and for the web particularly. In a hundred years, 15 years will seem to be just the infancy of the web, when the semantic web wasn’t even completely deployed.”

link: Luminaries look to the future web

What constantly strikes me is the tremendous need for people to connect to other people. Individuals may not know their next door neighbour but there is an online connection to someone many time zones away. Undoubtedly, the internet is such a powerful tool. However, it seems that it is also such a reflection of the human condition. My perception is biased though dealing with internet security issues. Nevertheless, it is disturbing that so many talented people use their skills and intellect for the sake of harming others. That there is some pathological satisfaction in doing harm online still bewilders me - constantly. It is harm for ‘harm’s sake’, not profit or financial gain. Were it not so in ‘the next wave’…

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster:  http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]internet, the next wave, security, personal perception, pathology[/tag]