The internet has revolutionalized the way we share and obtain knowledge. Everyone with access to a computer and a desire to learn can regardless of world location, financial status, age, etc.

The Past

In the past only the richest or most well connected citizen s had the opportunity for higher learning. Libraries were private collections and nobility would have the best minds to tutor them. Even fifteen or twenty years ago, the world was a vastly different place. The best and most accessible ways to find out information about a subject were:

• Go to a library
  Depending on your location you might not be able to find any good references on a subject. If you were lucky enough to live in a place with a University or College, you were better off but the act of finding what you were looking for could be very lengthy as books were not electronically searchable.

• Use a CD-ROM encyclopedia or other learning material
  These were pioneering days for informational usages of CD-ROMs. HTML was not as widespread or standardized and so there were varying levels of quality for these discs. They often had unique, counterintuitive interfaces. It was still neat to see hundreds of images all in one place, and a somewhat searchable interface, but the quality was lacking often outdated or lacking authority.

• Ask an expert
  Depending on who you knew, you might be able to ask a teacher or that "weird neighbour that knew everything" information on a subject. You could write a letter to an established Professor at some distant university. If you were lucky, you would get a response a few weeks or months later....ah, old-fashioned mail.

In a lot of ways, living in a small center would punish those who wanted to learn. The resources were just not available. I experienced this myself having an interest in mathematics and computers as a youth - the library books available were terribly outdated. The bookstore in our town did not cater to this audience, and online vendors did not exist.

This would all start to change with the development of the internet. Suddenly, information - correct or misleading - was available to the masses.

The Present

In the present, everyone uses email and instant messaging. This enables quick two way correspondence. Webcams allow people to visually connect with people that they otherwise will never meet in person. These two things along with remote computer control have let telecommuting and freelancing flourish.

In the last few years, cheap laptops and internet have let impoverished people the access to knowledge and a world of information.

Our communication feedback loop has collapsed - cellphones, text messages, twitter and facebook 'status updates', 24hr anywhere work availability, crackberries have led many to wish for simpler days and have has led some to turn an about face and abandon newer technology.

We live in an age, more than ever, of instant gratification. If you want to read a book, you can download one. If you want to hear a new album, you can stream it. Whereas in the past if you wanted a cool recording of a live show of an artist such as the Dave Matthews Band or Led Zeppelin, you would have to search for an buy a bootleg, now you can easily find thousands of previously "rare" songs easily online with one search.

The moral area of what is piracy, how much copyrighted media, if any, is alright has grayed. We have lost some of the joy that comes with waiting for things. We have lost some of our freedom by being constantly connected. I am straying from the main focus though...let us return to the state of information.

Online libraries, book stores, e-readers are a bookworms dream - though most people still prefer the feel, smell, etc of the real deal. wikipedia has evolved from being laughed at for unreliability to containing an expansive collection of openly shared, edited, and validated articles.

Forums for computer information seekers have gone from trollers, spammers and often high-horse repliers forums to actually useful and fun to be around, like stackoverflow.

The big paradigm shift has been caused by collaboration. The internet movie database, imdb or critic site rottentomatoes as well as news sites such as digg and reddit flourish because of community and user involvement. No single person could accomplish the feat. Computer records have made people more accountable than ever - consider wikileaks.

What of computer intelligence that has been promised to us for generations of science fiction writers and speculators? Well computers that mimic the human brain have not been realized, and may never be. But computers that are selectively "smart" in certain areas is very real. Computers are much better searchers than us. Their algorithms are used to find fraud, can drive cars safer than us and control most of the daily stock market traffic.

The advance of the Internet and computers has led us places with both good and bad consequences. Ultimately, where are we being led?

The Future

We will present some possibilities. There is one thing for certain and that is that the future is very uncertain.

Are we approaching a technological singularity? And if so is a good thing where computers and humans live in harmony or is in a science fiction type of nightmare? Have we already started building the "skynet" type of system fictionalized in the Terminator series, where machines enslave the human race?

I do not claim to know. I do however see the ever increasing acceleration of technology trends and easy adoption to the latest devices and gadgets that two hundred years ago would be one and the same as magic.

A book that I have read recently is This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future. The book is the responses to the 2009 Edge question. The Edge question is an annual poll (since 1998) of the top minds in the world.

What is appealing about the book is that there are a couple of hundred ideas, each presently in a few pages, which makes for a broad perspective and easy reading. There are many, many takes on technology and the internets involvement in the future and it is worth a read.

It should also be noted that I do not agree with all of the entries (and think many are hogwash), and do not expect you too, but it does broaden a perspective of what is to come.

What are your thoughts of what is to come?