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Ask HN: Are we experiencing the internet's golden age?

3 points by l33tbro 13y ago

If not, when was/will be? I think right now is pretty freakin amazing ... but definitely feels like the end of something with inciming govt regulation.

Raphmedia 13y ago
Personally I feel as if the golden age is already gone by, and all we are left right now is social media.
- benologist 13y ago
  I agree - we're well into another golden age of mobile and the web as we know it is on the way to becoming also-rans depending on Mozilla. In many ways web is still just trying to replace or catch up to desktop software and for the most part is still just replacing once-off-purchases with subscriptions and feature-culling.
krapp 13y ago
I miss geocities...
- l33tbro 13y ago
  Yeah same ... fondly remember when a website was called a "homestead".
gexla 13y ago
Wow, I hope not. Is this all we get? I don't think of what we have as being amazing at all. As a web developer, I'm still spending too much time building brochure-ware. Sure, I build full on apps as well, but many of those apps still aren't very interesting. That's not what keeps me going though, most important to me is the thrill of helping people build their businesses. As for capabilities, we still don't have enough speed in much of the world. There are still too many people even in the U.S. who can't get fast enough internet to act as replacement for cable T.V. We haven't yet arrived to the internet of things (we can do this, but it's very early days.) We don't have interesting devices to connect to the internet. We are still limited to desktop computers, cell phones and tablets. If I want to get any real work done, then it's desktop (or laptop.) I want a freaking screen which can appear anywhere in my house as a hologram, follow my gestures and understand my voice! There is no way this is the golden age of the internet. But really, what is the internet but a utility? The internet itself isn't interesting, but what we can do with it. Electricity isn't interesting, but rather it's the devices we plug into the wall (or charge up) that's interesting.
- l33tbro 13y ago
  I'm so stealing your electricity simile. Nice.
shawnreilly 13y ago
I'm not sure about a Golden Age, but I do think that a large number of awesome technologies are currently converging to provide new and amazing capabilities. Virtualization Technology (both at the System and Network Layers) used in in conjunction with Optical Fiber Technology is evolving the underlying Infrastructure of the Internet to be faster, more resilient, and more intelligent. The concept of an Application Programming Interface (API) used in conjunction with Cloud Based Methodologies towards Service Delivery are potentially laying the groundwork for a true Semantic Web (Web 3.0) as described by Tim Berners-Lee (in my opinion anyway). These are just a few short examples of converging Technology that will create amazing new possibilities. The Internet of things is on the way, and it won't stop there. I believe that many of these new capabilities will revolutionize other aspects of Life, such as Healthcare and Education. I personally consider innovation to be constant, so if we are in a Golden Age, I don't think it's going to end anytime soon. Good times!
icedchai 13y ago
The golden age was pre-1999 before all the regular people showed up.

3 points by l33tbro 13y ago

If not, when was/will be? I think right now is pretty freakin amazing ... but definitely feels like the end of something with inciming govt regulation.

Raphmedia 13y ago

Personally I feel as if the golden age is already gone by, and all we are left right now is social media.

benologist 13y ago
I agree - we're well into another golden age of mobile and the web as we know it is on the way to becoming also-rans depending on Mozilla. In many ways web is still just trying to replace or catch up to desktop software and for the most part is still just replacing once-off-purchases with subscriptions and feature-culling.

krapp 13y ago

I miss geocities...

l33tbro 13y ago
Yeah same ... fondly remember when a website was called a "homestead".

gexla 13y ago

Wow, I hope not. Is this all we get? I don't think of what we have as being amazing at all. As a web developer, I'm still spending too much time building brochure-ware. Sure, I build full on apps as well, but many of those apps still aren't very interesting. That's not what keeps me going though, most important to me is the thrill of helping people build their businesses. As for capabilities, we still don't have enough speed in much of the world. There are still too many people even in the U.S. who can't get fast enough internet to act as replacement for cable T.V. We haven't yet arrived to the internet of things (we can do this, but it's very early days.) We don't have interesting devices to connect to the internet. We are still limited to desktop computers, cell phones and tablets. If I want to get any real work done, then it's desktop (or laptop.) I want a freaking screen which can appear anywhere in my house as a hologram, follow my gestures and understand my voice! There is no way this is the golden age of the internet. But really, what is the internet but a utility? The internet itself isn't interesting, but what we can do with it. Electricity isn't interesting, but rather it's the devices we plug into the wall (or charge up) that's interesting.

l33tbro 13y ago
I'm so stealing your electricity simile. Nice.

shawnreilly 13y ago

I'm not sure about a Golden Age, but I do think that a large number of awesome technologies are currently converging to provide new and amazing capabilities. Virtualization Technology (both at the System and Network Layers) used in in conjunction with Optical Fiber Technology is evolving the underlying Infrastructure of the Internet to be faster, more resilient, and more intelligent. The concept of an Application Programming Interface (API) used in conjunction with Cloud Based Methodologies towards Service Delivery are potentially laying the groundwork for a true Semantic Web (Web 3.0) as described by Tim Berners-Lee (in my opinion anyway). These are just a few short examples of converging Technology that will create amazing new possibilities. The Internet of things is on the way, and it won't stop there. I believe that many of these new capabilities will revolutionize other aspects of Life, such as Healthcare and Education. I personally consider innovation to be constant, so if we are in a Golden Age, I don't think it's going to end anytime soon. Good times!

icedchai 13y ago

The golden age was pre-1999 before all the regular people showed up.