Google CEO Eric Schmidt envisions a dramatic change in the internet over the next five years: the web will be dominated by Chinese and social media content, with information being transmitted in real time through ultra-high-speed broadband. During an interview at last week's Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Orlando 2009, attended by thousands of CIOs (Chief Information Officers) and IT executives, Schmidt stated that "finding a way to rank real-time social content" would be "the greatest challenge of our time."
Gartner is one of the world's largest and most respected analytical firms. Most of Schmidt's remarks during the 45-minute interview were aimed at business leaders, but we've excerpted six minutes (link) that we believe anyone with an interest in the internet will find fascinating.
Below are some of the key statements:
* Over the next five years, the internet will be dominated by Chinese content.
* Today's youth represent how the internet will function in the next five years—they can seamlessly switch between applications.
* In Moore's Law, five years equates to a tenfold increase, meaning computers will be many times more powerful than they are now.
* Within five years, there will be broadband with performance far exceeding 100MB—there will be no distinction between television, radio, and the internet.
* "We're starting to make serious money off YouTube," and content will increasingly be presented in video format.
* "Real-time information is as valuable as any other information, and we want to include it in our search results."
* In terms of real-time capabilities, several companies have already surpassed Twitter and Facebook.
* "We can index real-time content now—but how do we rank it?"
* "Because of the fundamental shift to user-generated content on the internet, people will increasingly listen to information provided by others rather than traditional sources. Learning how to rank this content" will be "the greatest challenge of our time." Schmidt believes Google can solve this problem.