Experts See Positive Future for Internet Despite Luddite Violence

Posted on September 29, 2006

The BBC reports on a Pew report and survey that interviewed experts about their views on the future of the Internet. Most were positive about the Internet's direction but some were considered an emerging luddite culture would create violent disruptive acts.

The Pew report on the future internet surveyed 742 experts in the fields of computing, politics and business.
More than half of respondents had a positive vision of the net's future but 46% had serious reservations.
Almost 60% said that a counter culture of Luddites would emerge, some resorting to violence.
The Pew Internet and American Life report canvassed opinions from the experts on seven broad scenarios about the future internet, based on developments in the technology in recent years.

Virtual worlds, a technology that is already developing with persistent online worlds, will become more commonplace according to the exerpts.

By 2020 an increasing number of people will be living and working within "virtual worlds" being more productive online than offline, the majority of the respondents said.
Ben Detenber, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, responded: "Virtual reality (VR) will only increase productivity for some people. For most, it will make no difference in productivity (i.e., how much output); VR will only change what type of work people do and how it is done."

If you scroll to the end of the BBC article you will find the chart showing how experts responded to the PEW survey.