We are in a new world today than we were just a few years ago. I saw on the news today (yes, on the internet) that some third-world leader (no need to say who for the purpose of this discussion) is limiting the amount of media coverage on the election turmoil that is plaguing his country…the media would make him look bad…so instead of being quiet, the public is taking to the internet, flooding popular social networking sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter with the news. I’m not going to get in the middle of a political debate, I’m just pointing out that this world is changing, and gone are the days when people can do anything they want without the news spreading like wildfire around the globe, and it happens almost instantly.
In this new world, computers are more important and easier to get than they ever have been before. With their increasing importance, more and more people are making a living commiting cyber-crimes. Others create viruses that infiltrate your computer and steal your information or cripple your computer’s security and software. Still others are making a very good living from creating the anti-virus software to combat this problem. The average home user probably shares too much information on the social networking sites, but since “everybody does it”, it doesn’t seem like too much harm could come of it…and that is probably true.
Imagine this: There is a computer system that is so vast that it forms one global network that is, by all practical purposes, alive. It knows everything about everything and allows any and all of the world’s inhabitants to know anything they want to know, in an instant…a global consiousness, if you will. Does this sound like a futuristic movie? It isn’t. It is Web 2.0 and it’s happening right now.
Twenty years ago, nobody would have believed that the world would be like it is today, and twenty years from now, it will be unbelievable. Are you ready for it?
