A7- Internet and Its Future

            I think that everyone is aware of what the internet actually is. This article is interesting though, because it takes you on a timeline of the internet from 1969 to today. The department of defense essentially invented the internet over 40 years ago, and since then it has developed into a global phenomenon that I’m pretty sure no one under the age of 50 could live without. The growth of the internet certainly followed a parabolic curve, where it hadn’t grown much the first 20 years and then suddenly took off over the past 25 years to where it is today. Part of this definitely had to do with the availability of computers and the level of technology available to the developers. I think part of this also has to do with the internet craze that stemmed from companies like AOL in the early 90’s.

            The data involved in the internet is incredible. Just sending an email involves an array of networks passing data around until the correct line of communication is reached. It’s hard to fathom how this was actually designed. The next topic in the article addresses internet speeds. I can’t help remembering the horrors of the dial-up internet connection. Not just the painfully slow speed, but the shrill noises coming out of the computer as the connection was made. Thank God for newer technology. Cable and DSL have similar speeds in my experience, contrary to the commercials downplaying the other’s speeds.

            Domain Name Systems, or DNS, are basically web addresses, i.e. Drexel.edu. The article then defines email addresses. The ICANN is the organization in charge of making sure no one web or email address is copied or stolen. Email attachments are defined, as well as forums, chats, internet phone calls, and intranets and telnet.

            The World Wide Web is basically how the internet links addresses and documents to others globally. This is only done because all data is set up so that it can be transferred through any server globally. This global data protocol system is our “http”. We use a web browser to search and locate these documents. This section was particularly interesting to me because I didn’t realize “http” was actually an important prefix to any web address because it helps exchange data.

            The article finishes with a small passage on commerce via the internet, and how businesses can be created on the internet or be introduced to the internet to help do business.

            Since this article is essentially common knowledge to most of society, I decided to read an article on “The future of the Internet” http://www.economist.com/node/16941635 , to see where this phenomenon is going. This article starts by reflecting the “anarchy” of the internet as it started. It was a beautiful place where anyone could post or create or share anything with anyone, worldwide. It then discusses how this freedom has been somewhat taken from us through privacy laws, antitrust acts, etc. It says that the government, IT companies, and network owners are toying with the internet to fit their specific wants and needs, which is effecting our use in a sometimes negative way. It says that the internet may become segregated by government entities across the world, where different countries will experience different “internets”. Nevertheless, the article then documents the great success of the internet. It mentions how people can communicate worldwide with similar minds to create fantastic things where they ever could have had to ability before. It references Amazon, Facebook, and Google as some of these successful internet-based inventions.

            Next, the article approaches the uneasy future the internet is headed in. It discusses bans by national governments like China on searches for specific content, where it acts like a company’s firewall which restricts employees’ online content available to them. This would be a real step in the wrong direction from the original concept of a freedom concept via the world wide web. The article also mentions trends that are potentially turning the internet into a competition once again between big companies to control the market. Again, this is taking the ideas behind the internet in the wrong direction. Lastly, the article talks about how companies controlling online data flow are charging private companies to allow their websites to be traveled to via the “fast-lane” data lines, and therefore the smaller companies are being slotted to the “slow-lane”. This is also taking the hopes of the internet’s freedom to the direction of “internets.”

            This article is very interesting because even though it is a year and a half old, it is still very accurate in terms of where the internet seems to be going. I just hope that we can figure out a way to stop it before the internet becomes the “Apple-Amazon-Facebook-Google”, where the government controls what websites you can view.

Week 7: "Internet" Readings

The assigned article from AccessScience provides more than just a basic overview of the internet and how it operates. The article covers the background and history of the development of the internet quite effectively. It presents the internet as an evolution or progressive development of other media technologies and electronic sources, such as newspapers and magazines and identifies that the internet is proven to be so “versatile,” and in turn, this makes it powerful. Current users that have grown up in the age of the internet can testify these facts. The internet is used constantly and for a variety of uses/practices. Its continuous growth, even in the past decade, has demonstrated the effect that the enhancement of technological features, protocols, connection speed, and communication of the internet has had on user capabilities in many facets. The following two sources focus on the prospective capabilities of the internet in the future.

This second article addresses the question of whether the current research being conducted is enough to progressively influence in the internet industry needs for the future. The article discusses the concept of an incremental or progressive model and identifies the economic and social factors that influence the needs and expectations for future communications systems, which was the theme for a joint workshop held by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in January of 2007. The article presents observations made by the author, which include the relationships between the internet and economic and social theory, a discussion of the argument for anonymity of use of the internet, and observations of the social implications of a future internet. Several of these uses are discussed in the AccessScience reading, as well. This article presents a series of relevant questions that aid the reader in understanding the reflections made during the NSF and OECD joint workshop in 2007. These questions are quite thoughtful and their responses are detailed. The article addresses several important aspects regarding the future of the internet, such as lessons to be learned and improvements that can be made to improve the efficiency of inter-networking, and the challenges presented by each reflection.

This video provides a brief, yet detailed, overview of how the internet works. It is much simpler than the AccessScience reading. This source demonstrates the application of internet connections in a straightforward manner, using line diagrams and graphics for representation. It is even able to explicitly describe how “packets” of information are transferred across the internet (i.e. picture e-mails or Facebook photo albums). The source claims that by watching this video, one becomes part of the ten percent of people that understand the internet. The video uses analogies familiar to the viewer (i.e. candy wrapped in layers to describe the workings and relationships of various routers). It is short and therefore, a quick watch, and provides enough information for the average internet user to understand the workings of internet.

Database Reading

            The required reading discusses databases and database management systems.  In the “Relational model” section, it describes how relational databases work.  In a relational database, each row of a table is an instance of the entity in question, identified by unique attributes called primary keys.  Foreign keys can be used to reference outside tables.   Relational algebra table operations retrieve specific data from the tables.  Relational databases are an efficient means of managing large quantities of data such as building data for facility management.

            The second article I read was “Predictions for Smart Buildings in 2012.”  This article, written at the beginning of this year, makes several predictions for advancement in intelligent buildings over the next year, including the use of databases.  The predictions of the article are: 

• The Upcoming Evolution in Building Management Systems (BMS) will be Software Platforms Similar to the IPhone and Android.
• Data and Metrics for Building Occupancy will Finally Move to the Top of the Agenda as Key Indicators in Building Performance.
• The IT and Facility Management Departments will Sort Things Out.
• Energy Procurement will Become as Important as Managing Energy Demand for Building Owners.
• The Use of Building System Technology will Finally Play a Part in Green Building Certifications.
• A New Benchmark for the Integration of Building Systems will Occur in 2012
• The Automation Campaign in 2012 will be about Open Source Programming Languages, and Standards for Naming Conventions, Building Systems and Integration.
• Nascent Initiatives Outside the Realm of Facility Management will Eventually have a Significant Impact on Building Systems.

The author predicts that software will be developed to standardize data in “meta databases” for more efficient facilities management.  Sensors and control systems will be more sophisticated, providing better data about occupancy and building systems.  IT companies and departments will play a greater role in facility management because of the greater amount of data.

            The predictions in this article are very optimistic about improvements in the intelligent buildings sector.  I do not believe that all of these predictions will be fully realized by the end of the year, but steps will be taken towards making them a reality.  Particularly interesting, are the predictions for the integration of building systems.  A smart building of the future will compile data from each building system into a “meta database” where it can be analyzed or viewed using different software applications.  The author says the technology to make this integration happen has been available, it just requires the initiative of building owners.  In 2012, the smart building industry will move towards integration of building systems using relational databases.