The New Internet Will Look Very Familiar
Editor’s note: We’ve heard – and promoted – our fair share of sensational takes about the next internet, so it is with a special sense of duty that we offer this push-back. This perspective comes from a technology executive who was very interested in splashing cold water on the revolutionary framing of the future internet. Stay tuned for a counter-take.
When we talk about the next internet, there is an assumption that the new thing will be a revolution against the current internet. But It’s not always about reinvention.
There is enough consumer data to suggest that people are not looking for a new internet as much as they are looking for more of what already exists. This is the data I’m talking about:
Screens still matter
The devices may change but consumers continue to watch some kind of screen for roughly 7 hours a day (TV + Phone).
The internet is for entertainment
70% of the bits that move through the internet are for entertainment (streaming TV, movies, sports, games, fitness).
Connectivity is steadily growing
Since 2019, the number of connected devices in the home has gone up 40%.
Let’s stop pretending that the future of the internet is going to look unrecognizable to the thing we’re using today. The internet consumer in 2025 is going to look like an internet superuser in 2019.
