I just posted a message about this on a video game message board, and though I haven't checked the response on that thread yet, I thought it might be interesting to pose the same question here. I'm not involved in the technology sector, nor in the politcal arena, but I've always maintained a keen interest in both. This site, specifically is where those interests come together. One warning though, this is not particularly a political discussion. It can be, but it isn't designed that way. Enter at your own risk.
I don't think anyone here will disagree with just how revolutionary the internet has been as a communications technology. In so many ways it has lived up to the promise of the true American dream that the other great American Media technologies couldn't have. Not that I have anything particularly for or against television, it's just always struck me that the internet, in that it mirrors society, was democratic in a way no other form of media has been.
It's creation itself was a truly unique application of disparate American instincts. It was built by the Military, opened up by the technology sector and a young populist politican. Eventually, when computer power began to make it a relevant technology, media corporations pumped development money into "The Information Superhighway," only to be scooped by a free piece of software, designed by students, called Mosaic.
None of this is new or interesting, but it goes to show you exactly how organic this technology has been. Even now, it's succes lies in it's ability to transgress boundaries and property.
The question I posed at the other site, that I'll repeat here is: With the advent of new computer technologies (i.e. the cell processor), that theoretically will increase our computing power without limit, how can we re-imagine the internet? The cell processor is a revolutionary computing technology, my understanding (I'm also not a computer scientist), is that it will especially improve graphics, certain kinds of mathematics, and so on. Any further explanation by people more informed would be helpful.
How do we change the interface, how we view content, and how we navigate the web, given unlimited technology and (hypothetically) unlimited funds? How does this change how people view existing content, and produce new content (considering how graphic the cell promises to be, how does this change Kos)? How can this change the way we interact with people on the internet, how we view cyber-communities? Finally, how can we use peripherals (i.e. keyboards, joysticks, motion sensors) to completely redefine the way in which we physically interact with computers and the web in general?
This is just a theoretical conversation, open to anyone interesed in the topic.