IDF 2008: Best of net yet to come

While the web is aiding and exciting businesses and consumers alike, the message from the Intel Developer Forum(IDF) in San Francisco today was clear: You ain't seen nothing yet!

And mobile internet devices (MIDs) are going to play a key supporting role as the internet butterflies into its next state.

That was the flavour of Intel senior vice president and general manager for the Ultra Mobility Group Anand Chandrasekher's keynote which charted the history of the web and offered some crystal ball gazing as to what we can expect in the future.

Social networking has certainly changed the game in recent years with the emergence of MySpace, YouTube and, particularly, Facebook, according to Chandrasekher.

"Over the next decade or so, this is going to change dramatically. If this is an indication of what's to come, the best is yet to come," he told an audience of inspiration-hungry developers.

Citing Facebook as an example, he remarked at how all-consuming its presence seems to have become. "[Some people use it to] integrate not only their work environment but also their personal environment too. [In Intel, for example], some people aren't using Circuit as their landing page, they're using Facebook. That is a trend this is happening [already]," he said.

Echoing the sentiments of a recent report by analyst Forrester Research which suggested that most people are dissatisfied with their internet experience, Chandrasekher stressed how the user experience becomes even more critical when you add mobility to the equation.

He demoed an application called Gypsii that brings location-specific information directly into the palm of a user's hand, whether they're sitting in a caf in Rome, San Francisco or anywhere in between.

"What you saw on the internet five years ago is not what you see today and what you will see on the internet in five years is not what you see today," he said.

"This is clearly a prediction, but if you look at what's happened in the past we think that this change is not that dramatic. It is expected and very likely to happen."