Future of Internet Communications The future of online communications is limitless in its possibilities and potential. To better understand what the future can bring, think in terms of person-to-person interaction and ultimate goal of communication over the net. The point of E-mail, instant messaging, forums, and web blogs is to connect people together. Before the invention of the Internet, the telephone, and even paper mail, people have communicated through face-to-face spoken language. The objective of online communication is to simulate this very aspect, bringing it as close to reality as possible. Already, many people are familiar with web cams or Internet cams in which a device will record motion image/sound and stream it over the net in real time. However, this has severe limitations in that only one user can connect to another at any moment, generally through a direct link between two IP addresses. To create a more accessible community like web forums where multiple users can actively discuss an issue, a specific host server must guide the many transmissions and data links to specified users. In addition, the future will hold greater capabilities in the 'realism' of such forums. A popular idea is the online virtual forum where people talk in real time through microphones as if they were in a real discussion with real people speaking to them. Rapidly updating video imaging will also be possible and streamed to anyone who's connected in the virtual room. The only limitation right now is simply the bandwidth or data transfer rates in which all hosts are plagued with. A larger bandwidth equates to greater costs, which in many ways counteract the idea of a free online forum service. However, as more people use broadband and high-speed Internet connections to surf the web, such a vision can very well be a reality. In no time, this sort of virtual reality chat room/forum will be commonplace all across the net.

Sitemap