It's called "The Internet", Dad

I was out for dinner the other night with my friend and his family. He mentioned a new movie that was coming out and said that his daughter, who was also sitting at the table, had already seen the trailer for it although the trailer had not yet been released to TV. He followed up the statement with "I don't know how she finds out about this stuff before we do".

"It's called the Internet, Dad" she quipped from across the table.

This is the new reality. This is the new world. The beachheads of the next war front are not in Africa or Europe or the Middle East, but lie in bit-streams flowing from server farms distributed across multiple data centres in multiple countries. The next generation of humans on this planet are growing up and taking a stand in a place few over 40 can comprehend. The youth of today cannot be localized anymore to a particular country or culture, they live on the net, in a global community that defies borders and transparently crosses cultural differences.

Today's students access information the moment it *becomes* information. They process gigabytes of information daily on portable devices that use multiple protocols. They are not tied by cables to physical places and they don't go to libraries to do research, they google data.

This is why such things as the US SOPA legislation are not only moronic, but completely useless. This is why Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and other countries have been powerless to stop the political unrest from protesting youth. This is why the entire concept of global commerce is changing, and this is why the geo-political climate of the entire planet is in upheaval. The Internet has tied together bright young creative minds into a whole new community that has no borders or politics or restrictive government. The Internet is pure democracy.

Unfortunately the physical world is mostly governed by politicians and lawyers who are typically over fifty, don't understand the Internet, are funded by protectionist lobbyists, and have to answer to a political structure that was instituted when ox-carts were a common mode of transportation. Pick a country, they are all the same. What the middle aged lawyer-politicians running countries don't understand is that the eighteen year old students tweeting revolutions don't care about politics, they care about right and wrong and morals and fairness and human rights. Those things typically conflict with political agendas.

The global economy is changing and growing. I've said it before and I will say it again - conventional business needs to adapt and embrace the new reality or they will be left behind. The students of today are tomorrow's captains of industry, and I guarantee you they will not be bound by "conventional" business constraints. I find myself becoming a de-facto evangelist for this concept and I am certainly not alone, a quick google search for "internet entrepreneur 2011" reveals a plethora of young creative minds poised to change your perception of the world yet again and as many other evangelists telling the rest of the world about them.

Brace yourself, for 2012 is already shaping up to be a revolutionary year in technology - not just in the internet, but the bleed over into automotive, construction, and communications as well. A few peeks into this year's hot new tech from CES will give you an idea of how your world will change in the next 12 months, like the transparent display from Samsung or the Sony SmartWatch. The future belongs to those who can ride the wave of innovation and avoid drowning in it.


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