A couple of weeks ago, the Science Channel ran a series called "Download: The true history of the internet" (or something to that effect).

It was an interesting series covering all the high points of movement online. From what I recall, it ends with the question of what'll come next for the web and who will create it.

What do you think? Will it be one of the current powers that will create the next great era, or will it be a dark horse out of nowhere that changes how we do things online?

Given the history of online experiences, my bet would be on the dark horse --that seems to be the pattern. However, I think we're also entering a new phase of maturity, which will make it more of a challenge for the non-established to make their dent.

Who do you think the future belongs to?

I definitely don't see any of the major players being the ones to create the next experience since they are too busy trying to dominate the current web. Going back to 1999 how many have created the experiences that we enjoy today?

It's hard to pinpoint 2010 because it really is closer than we think, but YouTube excelled in a mere 2 years so a dark horse starting this year could be the next innovation. The limiting factor is the technology that we have to work with and of course bandwidth so maybe our next experience can't occur until those improve, especially in the mobile-space.

Scrivs has a point... AOL was a HUGE player in bring the world wide web from a military tool to a commercial product, and yet today... while it's still a BIG company, it's not even close to the major player it once was.

I think it sounds cliché but the future belongs to those who make it... things come and go in a heartbeat online and trying to guess at who will be #1 in 2-3 or even ONE year is a REALLY hard thing to do.

The more I think about it the more I think the technology players will play a bigger role in the next web more than the online powerhouses. For example, the real web as we use it now became more of a reality with the iPhone and from that I see more and more future tech utilizing what is available.

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