There are so many things going on on the Web right now that one can’t help but wonder as to what the future holds for the Web. Ranging from rich internet apps to on-demand content services and social networks. Will the Internet be a drastically different environment, say 10 years from now? Probably, but in which direction are we heading right now is hard to say. I hope we are heading for an improved web experience, an online environment in which we will enjoy the benefits of open platforms and integration, OS and device independence, and tourism in the Solar System (well, why not?). Maybe The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a good metaphor for an all-in-one future web derived device/platform (has everything, shows everything, knows everything, connects to everything).

Richard MacManus, over at Read Write Web, wrote a great piece on the future trends on the Web, in which he gives 10 trends he thinks are going to be interesting to follow in the coming years. I’ll just recap the trends in shorter form here:

• Semantic Web
• Artificial Intelligence
• Virtual Worlds
• Mobile
• Attention Economy
• Web Sites as Web Services
• Online Video / Internet TV
• Rich Internet Apps
• International Web
• Personalization

I’d also add:

• omni-digitization - bringing digital technology, and the internet, to every corner of the Earth; there have been many initiatives over the past years that are trying to bring the benefits of the Internet to people all over the world that are, economically or otherwise, information technology impaired.
• eco-friendlier IT - gradual transformation of all administration to a digital form that would eventually eliminate the use of paper and other natural resource dependent materials for accounting, administration, commerce…

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