As I was reading Read/Write Web's predictions for 2008, it struck me: there will be no dramatic new web-based technologies this coming year, or (perhaps) ever again.
The Internet Era, which began in the early 1990s, is coming to an end. Web 2.0 did not signal a new acceleration in technological development; rather, it was an afterthought, an increase in both usability and availability of online tools, allowing the public to engage on a mass scale.
Yes, we are going to see further enhancements to social networking sites, and more user-generated content. And yes, technologies such as online video will continue to improve.
But the pace of change engendered by internet technologies has definitely begun to slow down. The web in 2008 will not be altogether different from the web in 2007. One sarcastic commenter on Read/Write Web said his number one prediction for 2008 was that there will be "Way more cute cat videos on the web".
The internet revolution is over. The next technological revolution will happen elsewhere.
Update: Reading Sitepoint's Future of the Web in 2008 has strengthened my belief that things are happening a lot more slowly in webland these days.
Tags: web 2.0
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