Where did I leave my glasses....

Vint Cerf is the Chief Internet Evangelist at Google (what a wonderful title!), and is often referred to as 'The Father of the Internet". He's recently commented on Google Blogs about the future of the Internet - he insists we have only glimpsed a fraction of its capabilities so far and that in a few years it will dominate our workplace, our leisure time and our home lives.

He predicts that in the next decade, around 70% of the human population will have fixed or mobile access to the Internet at speeds of up to gigabits per second. Mobile devices, appliances and sensors of all kinds will become a major component of the Internet and will know where they are, both geographically and logically. So, the following scenario might be enacted:

You enter a hotel room and your mobile and your laptop will be told their precise location including room number. They will discover what other devices are in the neighborhood, so your mobile will discover that it has a high resolution display available in what was once called a television set. Your mobile will remember where you have been and will keep track of RFID-labeled objects such as your briefcase, car keys and glasses. "Where are my glasses?" you will ask. "You were last within RFID reach of them while in the living room," your mobile or laptop will say.

Lots of other possible scenarios are illustrated, ending with the reassurance that Google will be there, helping to make sense of it all, helping to organize and make everything accessible and useful!

Well worth a read.