Google's Eric Schmidt made a recent comment that shocked many - the Internet will soon disappear.
His comments, however, perhaps aren't as outlandish as they seem at first glance. In fact, the reasons for his comments make it seem much more plausible.
"There will be so many IP addresses...so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won't even sense it," said Schmidt at the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room."
In other words, the use of the word "disappear" is perhaps not the best one. Really, our sense of the Internet will disappear, but will still be around. In fact, it will be so prominent with Internet of Things devices and connected electronics that users won't notice its existence - it will just exist.
Eric Schmidt is right. The Internet of Things is growing at an extremely fast rate. Billions more devices will come online over the next decade or so.
"Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic," Schmidt continued. "And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room."
This kind of interaction with technology would create a highly personalized and interesting world, Schmidt went on to explain. Heated seats would know when to turn on, speakers would know when to play music and lights would know when you're going to bed and to switch off.
In other words, there's no need for concern. The Internet really isn't going anywhere except up. It will continue to be developed as a part of our lives.
Schmidt went on to talk about the fact that tech has created millions of jobs, both in tech and outside of it, saying that every job in tech created about 5 to 7 jobs in a different area of the economy.
Schmidt explained that while there has been a debate about whether or not tech destroys jobs for years, ultimately tech is helping more than hurting.
"It's the same that happened to the people who lost their farming jobs when the tractor came... but ultimately a globalized solution means more equality for everyone," said Schmidt.
