Google's Eric Schmidt says the "Internet will disappear"

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By Matthew Griffin Computing 19th January 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

As the number of connected devices proliferates the internet we knew and loved is going away, and being replaced by something else, but what should we call it?

It’s obvious when you think about it – the end of the Internet is drawing near – or at least the internet as we know it, and that’s according to someone who knows it better than almost everyone else on the planet. While speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last Thursday, Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, said the current internet will seem to vanish as it becomes a part of everyday objects and services.

“There will be so many IP addresses, so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won’t even sense [the internet],” Schmidt said, “it will be part of your presence all the time.”

Meanwhile Schmidt also went on to say that Google is positioning itself to become a major provider of the internet’s next iteration – on Earth and in space, and the company made headlines this week with another $1 billion investment in Elon Musk’s SpaceX communications project which aims to use 4,425 low Earth orbit satellites to connect every square inch of the planet.

Google’s also getting deeper into the wireless sector too – with ambitions to sell mobile phone plans directly to consumers as early as this year under it’s Project Fi banner, an MVNO service that piggybacks on top of Sprint and T-Mobiles wireless networks.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, multi-award winning Futurist and named Futurist of the Year 2024, has been described as a "Walking encyclopaedia of the future" by NASA and a futurist polymath. One of the world's most renowned futurists and strategic foresight experts Matthew is the 15 times author of the blockbuster "Codex of the Future" series, and is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years, XPotential University, the world's first free futures and foresight university, and the World Futures Forum which works with the United Nations to solve the worlds greatest challenges. Matthew is an in demand international keynote, acclaimed university lecturer and mentor, and host of the hit Fanatical Futurist podcast.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and run several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world's most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, Dow, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others. He was also the only futurist invited to talk at the UN COP28 held in Dubai alongside world leaders.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.