Internet+ Age Emergence and Technology

The Internet+ Age evolved from “a . . . `new society,’ . . . the Internet, or, . . . `cyberspace’. . . . [that] emerged in the West. . . . in the mid-1990s”(p. 2). In these most-immediate-pre-Internet+ days, the growth of Internet usage, networking, and digital communication of ever-increasing amounts of information moving at very high speeds provided the necessary preconditions and impetus for emergence of the Internet+ Age about two decades later, around 2007. That was when many of the hard- and software products that distinguish The Internet+ Age broke through from their 1990s, and earlier, predecessors and began to permeate and dominate all of life:

• Smartphones, specifically, Apple’s iPhone, was in announced 2007 (p. 19)
• Facebook, “started to scale globally” in 2007 (p. 20)
• Twitter “also started to scale globally” in 2007 (p. 20)
• YouTube, built in 2005, was bought by Google in late 2006 (p. 20)
• Android was “launched” in 2007 (p. 20)
• Kindle was “released” in 2007 (p. 20)
• “[I]ntroduce[tion] of non-silicon materials . . . into microchips” occurred in 2007, thereby ensuring “the exponential growth in computing power” that might, it was thought at that time, be slowing down with traditional silicon microchips  (p. 21)
• Sensors were miniaturization and widely used around 2007 (p. 3) (pp. (44-52)
• The cloud “emerge[d]” in 2007 (p, 90)

On December 4, 2009, Google began to “use fifty-seven signals—everything from where you were logging in from to what browser you were using to what you had searched for before—to make guesses about who you were and what kinds of sites you’d like. . . . Google’s algorithms suggest . . . [what’s] best for you in particular. . . . [T]he era of personalization began. . . . December 4, 2009.” (pp. 2-3)

In 2011, Machine Learning (ML), another major component of The Internet+ Age, attained a notable level of advancement. That’s when IBM’s Watson “beat two human champions in a Jeopardy! competition.” (Wikipedia)  Moreover, developments in 2016 and 2017 (Google’s AlphaGo program, AlphaGoZero, and AlphaZero) exemplify additional improvements in this technology.  (Wikipedia)

Also in 2011, Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged in a significantly advanced version in with Apple’s Siri, which uses “natural [ordinary] language to answer questions, make recommendations and perform actions.” (Wikipedia)  AI is based on feedback. AI machines interact with the world, adapt to change, and pursue additional input. Whereas ML is reactive, AI is proactive. (Forbes)

The Internet of Things (IoT), another technological development of The Internet+ Age, was formally named in 1999, and by 2013-2014 the concept, “Internet of Everything (IoE)” evolved.

Blockchain is a major technological component of The Internet+ Age. In 2014 it became Blockchain 2.0 with expanded capabilities and applications. (Wikipedia) (Harvard Business Review)

Another major component of The Internet+ Age are mobile apps. In 2017 there were over 6 million apps available to smartphone users. (Statista)

Electricity is the most basic underlying technological development of The Internet+ Age. Without it there wouldn’t be electric communication; the essentially instant communication/information exchange, seen initially in the telegraph (1844), then in the telephone, the cell phone, television, the Internet, and most recently in the hard- and software of the Internet+ Age.(p. 33) (pp. 6-7)

As we increase our understand the technology of the Internet+ Age, what it is, its potential, and its effects on individuals, institutions and, actually, on all of society and the world, we increase our ability to advance our interests.