Extreme Makeover: Overhauling the Internet

There are currently 1.1 billion users logged on to the Internet world wide; each and every one of us is linked to each other through tightly woven webs of domestic, government, academic, and business networks across the globe.

Our Internet however, was originally designed in the United States for military use, which had not anticipated the massive expansion of usage to create today’s information society to facilitate e-commerce, social networking, web-browsing, internet research, instant messaging, and every other World Wide Web functions that we consider daily necessities, and often take for granted. Because of the sudden and dramatic increase in the usage of the public network, we have come to encounter problems that had not been anticipated during the designing and implementation of Internet protocols. I believe we all have Symantec Norton Antivirus, MacAfee, or some sort of antivirus software to protect our computers from the constant bombarding malicious attacks. Every other day, our antivirus warns us to update our virus definitions; it is in a way, vaccinating the computers each time against hundreds of new diseases. Sometimes I feel the antivirus software blocking my every move, and scanning the computer every few hours becomes more of a nuisance than the viruses themselves. Our current Internet also is suspected to privacy issues and stability concerns for the network as the exponential growth of web usage strains the structure itself.
In the midst of these problems, the Japanese Ministry of Communications recently revealed its plan to develop a completely redesigned network architecture to replace or support our current Internet as early as 2020. With a request of nearly $70 million from the Japanese Government for the next fiscal year, and its partnerships with leading businesses and academic institutions, the ministry aims to meet the needs of higher bandwidth, stronger security, and a more stable network.
From a business perspective this new idea sure does have its charms and doubtful areas.
A faster and secure network links between business and individuals has the potential in creating new confidence in e-commerce and boost the online industry. Credit card purchases online, and completely interactive virtual stores could make consumer experiences a much more enjoyable activity while it promotes new revenue for businesses from the increased accessibility, security and functionality of the new Internet. However, as our current Internet has already establish itself firmly into the roots of society and business, the transition to a completely new system and architecture of networks can not only be complicated but costly. Hardware upgrades, network rewiring, software redesigning, and all aspects of what makes our current Internet functions must be changed, and re-learned. Thus, although the idea of a post-internet society seems to have its sweet merits, when it comes to replacing and implanting something that is already heavily part of our business can turn out to be painstaking, if not impossible.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=42185

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/419451