Web's Future: The Next Few Years
the future. Online services charge only $8 to $30 a trade, compared to about $80 trading fee offered at many traditional brokerages. Cyberinvestors are also attracted by the 24 hour access to their portfolios, and by the wealth of information offered.
SOFTWARE / LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
A new generation of browsers, this time based on Java and not on C++, will be introduced in 1988, starting with a Java-only version of Netscape Navigator in the first half of the year. This browser is also designed to work with smaller versions of Lotus SmartSuite and Corel Office Suite (which will come in the form of Java applets). The new Navigator is made to run on NC's (network computers), in addition to PC's.
If this generation of Web browsers will become the preferred foundation for business suites, or even replace one day the Windows operating system, as predicted by some, remains to be seen. The corporate world is cautious and slow to adopt the NC. Same with operating systems outsides Windows, which has most of the market at this moment. Another major development is the broad acceptance of XML (Extensible Markup Language) as the next standard Web language. XML appears as a versatile enabler of electronic commerce, content push, and online software distribution.
Microsoft plans to use XML as the data format for its Office applications, and this shows again the enormous impact the Web will have in the next decade. Bill Gates said recently that XML will be the data format for the Office suite, and HTML will be the display standard.
HOW MANY ON THE NET RIGHT NOW?
More than doubling every year since 1988, the Internet is actually exceeding Moore's Law predictions. As of November 1997 there were 56 million users in the US, and 90.9 million worldwide. See NUA Internet Surveys
Latest Articles