Thursday, December 20, 2012
The year of technology
The Telegraph's 'Year in Review' looks at the way that new technology has helped to shape 2012. They say that this is not just thanks to the gadgets that we ares buying with more enthusiasm than almost any other nation on Earth, but that every aspect of our lives is becoming connected to the web.
They say that the overall trend is for a more connected world:
Facebook’s floatation, although not a financial success yet, shows that these are grown-up businesses. The launch of Netflix in the UK indicates that globally, the web is a global platform that people need for entertainment and day-to-day-living, while government and businesses need it more than ever for essential services. No wonder both it and those gadgets have been more controversial – and popular – than ever before.
The most interesting part of the article is that speculating on ownership of the internet and threats to its independence:
The internet may have made the world a smaller place, in communication terms, but the same territorial concerns and power struggles remain. Chief among those is who controls the internet in the first place. At the recent talks hosted by the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, Britain and America refused to sign a draft treaty intended to update an international telecoms agreement signed in 1988. Western countries were concerned that China, Iran and Russia could seek to use the treaty to increase online censorship. For their part, China, Iran and Russia objected to attempts to make telecoms access a human right.
The US and many big internet firms, such as Google, want minimal state interference in the running of the internet and they seem to have got want they want. At least for now.
2013 could be just as interesting.
They say that the overall trend is for a more connected world:
Facebook’s floatation, although not a financial success yet, shows that these are grown-up businesses. The launch of Netflix in the UK indicates that globally, the web is a global platform that people need for entertainment and day-to-day-living, while government and businesses need it more than ever for essential services. No wonder both it and those gadgets have been more controversial – and popular – than ever before.
The most interesting part of the article is that speculating on ownership of the internet and threats to its independence:
The internet may have made the world a smaller place, in communication terms, but the same territorial concerns and power struggles remain. Chief among those is who controls the internet in the first place. At the recent talks hosted by the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, Britain and America refused to sign a draft treaty intended to update an international telecoms agreement signed in 1988. Western countries were concerned that China, Iran and Russia could seek to use the treaty to increase online censorship. For their part, China, Iran and Russia objected to attempts to make telecoms access a human right.
The US and many big internet firms, such as Google, want minimal state interference in the running of the internet and they seem to have got want they want. At least for now.
2013 could be just as interesting.
