The internet in 2020: Mobile, ubiquitous and full of free movies

San Francisco - A survey of internet leaders and analysts has predicted that most people will use mobile devices such as smartphones to access the internet in 2020, but cautioned that the spread of communications networks would not necessarily make the world a better place. "A strong undercurrent of anxiety runs through these experts' answers," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project that polled almost 1,200 experts. "They are quite sure the internet and cell phones will continue to advance at an amazing clip, but they are not at all sure people will make the same kind of progress as they embrace better, faster, cheaper gadgets," he said Wednesday. "The picture they paint of the future is that technology will give people the power to be stronger actors in the political and economic world, but that won't necessarily make it a kinder, gentler world."The survey forecast that for the majority of people getting online around the world in 2020 the mobile phone will be their only path to the web. Internet devices would feature a far greater level of touch and voice recognition technologies. But the always-on availability of internet users would increase the blurring of divisions between personal and work time. Most experts also agreed that despite the best efforts of those trying to enforce copyright protections the internet will still be a great place to find copied content available without payment, from music and movies to TV shows and books. The survey also predicted that artificial and virtual reality will become more embedded in everyday life, and that the transparency of organizations would increase - though this would not necessarily guarantee greater standards of integrity or economic and political justice. Social tolerance will not necessarily be improved by the growth of the internet, the experts agreed, since the same technology that spreads a diversity of viewpoints also spreads the potential for hate, bigotry and terrorism.

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