Fact is - we live in an era of massive acceleration in innovation and disruption, connectivity and loss of privacy, growth and digital identity. Nothing can change that tide of inevitable digitisation. Our only option is to embrace, and hopefully safeguard, that which does not need to be digitised.
As it currently stands, more of the world's population has access to commercial wireless signals than to the electrical grid [1]. The number of connected wireless devices around the world is expected to reach anywhere between 50 billion to a staggering 1 trillion in the next two years or so [2].
I am not entirely sure that the average human brain can fully comprehend figures like that. It truly is mind blowing. Cisco has estimated that, by 2015, the amount of data that crosses the internet every five minutes or so will be equivalent in size to the total size of all moves ever made.
Furthermore, it estimates that annual internet traffic will reach a zettabyte. A zettabyte is roughly 200 times the total size of all words ever spoken by humans [3].
I work with data every day and even I cannot wrap my head around that.
This hyper-connected state has changed the way we work, play and live. From forging new channels for sharing, connecting and socialising with family and friends to developing innovative and uniquely new ways to advertise and shop - the paradigms that have always been applied to 'the consumer' are having to be rewritten. New business models are no longer occasional - they are the norm and they are vital. From downloading music one track at a time to instantly buying and having access to an eBook - the way we shop, the way we relax, the way we view traditional hobbies has irrevocably changed. Crowdsourcing, renting out your spare room or parking lot, finding new ways to fill your spare time - the world shrinks a little bit more every time a new digital trend takes off.
The opportunity for business is massive. The opportunity for the entrepreneur is gigantic. The opportunity for the individual is undeniably huge. The degradation in privacy, interpersonal skills, humanity? That is all still left to see.
We live in a reality filled with wonder - wonder at what is and what is still to come. But tread carefully. We may just change more than we intended to.
[1] 2011 Internet Trends
[2] Anyone for 1 quadrillion intelligent, connected devices on the Internet?
[3] The Zettabyte Era-Trends and Analysis
