Kai-fu Lee talks about the seven major trends of the Internet. The media will soon disappear.

The rise and development of the Internet are not only one of the greatest miracles we have created in the information age, but also the technical factors that have had the greatest impact on people's living habits and behavior in the past fifty years.

It should be said that today's Internet is still in its childhood, however, in just over two decades, the development history covers the early stages of resource sharing, network surfing, the e-commerce wave at the turn of the century, and the flourishing of new application models such as blogs in recent years. The impressive "wonderful moments" have to make us look forward to the bright future of the new generation of Internet.

According to my personal analysis and judgment, today's Internet has shown or is about to show the following seven important development trends. These development trends may become the internal basis of the new generation of Internet, it may become the birthplace of new technologies, new products, new user groups, or new application models.

Eliminate Media

The Internet is equal.

Today's blog culture has well reflected the equality of the Internet at the cultural level: in the blog world, ordinary Internet users have similar public opinion positions (blog sites or pages) as movie stars and celebrities in the business world, and can choose specific discourse methods based on their own wishes, establish a topic-centered influence and Interaction Relationship between yourself and readers.

In the long run, the equality of the Internet has more profound meanings. The equality of technology provides the necessary prerequisites for the full sharing of information resources, information sharing provides the best guarantee for people to participate in social activities on an equal footing. Such a virtuous circle will profoundly change our lives.

This idea is actually very simple, and other companies have launched similar products. But think about it. These products may have a huge impact on TV and movies in the future. In the future, more multimedia content (such as video, music, and animation) can be created and disseminated through the Internet. Through the Internet, not only can everyone become writers, musicians, artists, or even directors ...... Another concept related to equality-eliminating media-has gradually become a reality.

In the past, in the media and even other social fields, if technical factors are not taken into account, more information will be available to those who have more wealth. For example, stock analysis, real estate agencies and other industries can charge a High Commission, just because they have valuable information. However, with the Internet, everyone can obtain information such as stocks and real estate on an equal and convenient basis, which is more convenient without intermediary.

In the past, exclusive information providers were able to make huge profits. In the Internet world, information sharing brings greater value to all netizens. This is a good news for users, but it is a great challenge for people engaged in traditional intermediary industries. This will inevitably cause economic restructuring and redistribution of the industry, and we need to be fully prepared for this.

Ubiquitous Internet

Today, the Internet has entered an ordinary home, making it hard to imagine the speed of network popularization. We have reason to infer that the network will truly achieve the goal of connecting everyone and every electronic device in the near future, and truly send information and service content to every corner of the world.

For example, network computer was a failed plan ten years ago, because the technology and network conditions at that time were far from mature. But recently, similar plans are becoming a reality. For example, Professor Negroponte of MIT has launched the "civilian computer" program, where 800 yuan can be used to buy a computer, and software applications focus on network-based software services (with different business models. After a sharp drop in the price of hardware and free open-source software, the "civilian computer" program of less than 800 yuan is possible.

According to this trend, even in some low-income areas, Internet access will become more and more easy, while computers mainly used for Internet access will become easier to use, because they do not need to install software, it does not need to be plagued by problems such as anti-virus, anti-virus, upgrade, and repair all day long.

In concert with the popularity of computers, mobile phones, PDAs, smart home appliances, and other electronic devices that can access the Internet are increasingly entering our lives.

Unlike most users in the United States and Europe who use mobile phones to access the Internet, in China, India, and other countries, more users do not even use PCs before using their mobile phones to access the Internet. This phenomenon is a great opportunity for China, network applications and network services based on mobile phones and other mobile platforms will surely develop rapidly.

If we want to broaden our horizons, we can even assume that in the future, any electric appliance that can be plugged in will be able to access the Internet and provide an online experience. When computers are everywhere, watches can access the Internet, TVs can access the Internet, and cars can also access the internet.

However, data on the network may become more complex and chaotic, and data on each device needs to be synchronized. Therefore, users need centralized storage and services, in this way, you can access your data stored on the network in a completely consistent manner on any device and use your favorite software service.

Based on this idea, the super data center and super service center on the Internet will become one of the most important application modes in the future.

(Serialization 1, continue in the next period. The author is vice president of Google and president of China)