Catanduanes State University

COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Virac, Catanduanes

LEARNING MATERIALS AND COMPILATION OF

LECTURES/ACTIVITIES

GEC3
LIVING IN THE I.T. ERA
 D ISC L AIM ER

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College of Information and Communications Technology

 C H APTER 8: FU TUR E OF TH E INT ERN ET

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Evaluate the evolution of Internet and the underlying factors that help its growth;
2. Determine the capabilities of internet of things in the current and future generations
3. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of too much interconnectivity to the millennials;
and
4. Identify the opportunities and capabilities of Internet

KEY TERMS
1. RAND Corp.
2. DARPA
3. Packet switching
4. ARPANET
5. TCP
6. E-mail
7. Telnet
8. Usenet
9. GeoCities
10. Hypertext
11. AOL
12. Chat rooms
13. World Wide Web
14. Netscape Navigator
15. Web 2.0
16. IoT
L E S S O N 4 : T H E F U T U R E AH E A D : T H E I N T E R N E T AN D T H E M I L L E N N I AL

4.1 Experts’ Predictions on the Internet of Things

For Alder Riley, Owner/CEO of Ideastostuff, “[customer] experience is king”.

Riley predicted that retailers will find

sustainability by integrating AR and VR
to build unique experiences for
customers such as changing in-store
decor on the fly or tailoring new looks
based on each individual customer that
walks in the door. The notion here is that
automation and robotics will free up store
employees to be more customer-facing
as routine duties such as stocking and
cleaning are taken up by machines.

One big takeaway from Alder is that data will start bleeding into the product mix. He predicts that valuable
subsets of data (behavioral, taste, purchase, etc.) will be constantly harvested, allowing for features like in-
store printing services pulled from sources such as customers’ social media likes.

The growing role of AI in product

development was a consistent theme.

Matt Field, President and Co-founder

of MakerSights, predicted that more
“winning products, born out of human-
machine partnerships” would be
produced through the use of AI. One
example is Stitch Fix, which developed
its own “Hybrid Designs” based on sales
and attribute feedback from customers. More brands will leverage predictive modeling with software
platforms like MakerSights to translate their troves of product and purchase data into trend and styling
recommendations.

Field also predicted that 3D would finally make it mainstream. 3D has the ability to dramatically streamline
design and supply chain processes and thrill consumers with novelty applications of 3D tech. The prospect
of 3D gaining widespread usage across the retail ecosystems means that faster and more cost-effective
digital design is near.

Where did that box of mangoes come

from?

Being able to answer such a question is

a big deal for companies like Walmart
and IBM working together to track down
contaminated foods and products.

More companies will employ blockchain

technology within the supply chain to
quickly track and get out the word about
focused recalls to specified parties, according to Morvareed Z. Salehpour, Esq., Attorney and Managing
Partner at Salehpour Legal Consulting.

38
Salehpour also cited AmazonGo as an example of how automation will likely reduce the need for
employees in retail stores. She also predicted an increased reliance on e-commerce alongside the
conversion of brick-and-mortar locations into storefronts for customers to try products they will then order
online.

Retailers will learn to take product

orders not just from customers, but also
from their devices.

According to Robin Scott, Director

at Silicon Dales, IoT devices will soon
be helping customers replenish their
supplies of certain products. Just like
Alexa and Siri are already accomplishing
tasks for customers, IoT devices will step
up in the same way.

Scott also suggested that same-day delivery will become the norm for online stores with a brick-and-mortar
outlet. His caution was that much of this convenience will come through service providers where a few
players like Uber are entering the space.

Brick and mortar stores will increasingly need an online offering, as many are already becoming locations
to collect online orders for customers. Finding ways to enhance this by building dedicated collection areas
into stores will become normal, according to Scott.

When this happens, up-selling and cross-selling opportunities will abound.

5G will be a gamechanger, according to

Susan Sweeney at Computer
Generated Solutions, Inc.

Sweeney predicted an increasing share

of e-commerce sales versus brick and
mortar fueled by 5G networks that further
the reality of IoT, 3D, AR/VR, and
personalization in the market. Data and
goods will simply move faster and the
pace of change in the retail landscape will accelerate.

Platform technology, connected supply chains, and manufacturing advances will drive visibility beyond
inventory on hand as well, according to Sweeney. This means that retailers will have the ability to access
more goods as buyers will be able to access what consumers are demanding in a quicker timetable.

In short, customers will become their own buyers as technology enables on-demand production.

That’s a brave new (retail) world.

Mikhail Damiani, CEO of Blue Bite,
believes storytelling gets better with our
devices, not worse.

Imagine a customer tapping on a pair of

NFC-enabled shoes with their phone.
They unlock content far beyond anything
that could be printed on a hangtag or a
traditional retail display placard. That’s
the bright future that Damiani envisions.

Overall, Damiani sees more opportunities for customers to engage with the physical space in stores using
their phones as the remote control for the experience. Retailers will adapt as the brick-and-mortar retail
experience becomes less fragmented and disconnected from what consumers are doing on their mobile
devices.

The predicted result: Fewer digital screens and fancy displays shouting at customers and more direct and
personalized engagement.

Expect physical and digital experience to

become more and more integrated.

Retailers will necessarily respond to

market pressures to implement
technology more effectively and that
means developing a more complete
customer journey. That’s one big insight
from Matt Sebek, Vice President of
Digital at World Wide Technology
(WWT).

According to Sebek, engaging customers across multiple channels and platforms while making shopping
experiences more frictionless will become critical. Brands will be continuously developing innovations to
stay relevant and top of mind for new and existing customers. Capabilities like “scan and go” and “click and
collect” are two examples of this trend.

Sebek also predicts that AI will continue to reshape the purchase process and eliminate costly mistakes
and fraud through the use of machine learning, a big win for retailers looking to cut costs.

Jordan Ekers believes brick and mortar

retail will evolve, not perish. He’s the
Chief Customer Officer and Co-
founder at Nudge Rewards who
predicts that the major challenge for
retailers will be removing friction from
online and offline experiences in an
omnichannel world.

When it comes to younger consumers,

Ekers shared that they haven’t given up on in-store experiences and therefore retail staff is still important
to the personalized experiences that upwardly-mobile millennials are seeking. The data seems to prove
him right here.

According to Retail Dive, two-thirds of millennials shop in stores every week and they’re seeking out the
human side of the brand. A recent study by ChargeItSpot reveals that 66% of millennials consider in-store
associates to be “extremely important” during their store visits. This suggests, and Eker predicts, that the
next big transformation in retail will focus heavily on the employee.

Retailers may increasingly grasp the influence of associates on in-store conversion and overall brand
affinity. Employee-focused mobile technology is playing a key role here, equipping store associates with
the tools and information they need to increase performance, decrease engagement challenges and
ultimately deliver a better customer experience.

When it comes to the customer experience, Ekers sees significant digitization happening at the moment
where retailers are unleashing insights, technology, and innovation to offer consumers a wider mix of
transactional and experiential channels to engage with at their own pace.

Andy Reinhard, CEO at Wondersign,

believes retailers will continue to cater to
consumer desires for instant gratification
through production on demand. 3D
printing and tariffs on commoditized
goods from overseas will propel this
trend, according to Reinhard.

Visual searching and shopping will

accelerate due to machine learning,
further enabling social commerce as well. This could drive traffic for local stores for purposes of in-person
product experiences or picking up goods.

Lastly, Reinhard suggests that retailers will offer more online, mobile, voice product ordering alongside
more brand-driven physical experience centers allowing for BOPIS, returns, and community events. This
represents an opportunity for independent retailers to obtain a brand store license or run them as shop-in-
shop concepts.

Trevor Sumner, CEO at Perch

Interactive, calls it “The Internet of
Eyes.”

He predicts unprecedented visibility into

store activity (using repurposed security
cameras) for retailers enabling a new
wave of in-store merchandising,
marketing, and optimization. Retailers
could do everything from adjusting which
products shoppers are touching to providing cashierless checkout for customers using this technology.

Sumner predicts an explosion of in-store data that will at first confuse retailers, then become the key
differentiator in their success. There will be a significant need for an influx of data scientists, architects, and
analysts to help retailers take action based on the new insights available to them.

In short, those retailers without a data orientation will lag behind the digitally native upstarts.

Lastly, Sumner is optimistic about brick-and-mortar retail, like many of the experts we talked to. He
predicted that 2019 will prove that those with physical retail presences will have a definitive advantage in
omnichannel marketing, warehousing, and distribution.
4.2 Millennials and Technology
We are on the brink of a technological revolution that will lean hard on fresh ideas from young start-ups
and reward innovative millennials with membership in a small but rising meritocracy.

Tyler Cowen, an influential professor of economics at George Mason University, predicts technologically
talented people will be the main players in a new era driven by digital natives — the millennials born since
1980.

Michael Malone, author of the new book “The Intel Trinity,” claims young entrepreneurs will provide
instrumental ideas to the technology giants rather than the other way around. Malone predicts an innovation
slowdown at major companies, such as Cisco, Yahoo, even Twitter, that will require fresh ideas from those
far from the top.

Young people are at the heart of the digital age. They think with and through new technologies.

“Social media keeps growing and people chase the latest and greatest. That is the game of it in the world
we live in. I don’t think you can go backward,” says Mark Frydenberg, senior lecturer of Computer
Information Systems at Bentley University.

“These tools allow you to share your life details reasonably seamlessly,” he adds. “I think technology is
improving opportunities for learning but some things are lost when we rely too much on technology. I ask
my students to consider: How does your use of technology impact your thought process or the way you
interact in person?

“Another issue for the millennials is to know which online tools to use, and when, and which not to use,”
explains Frydenberg. “All of the sudden there are so many choices for communicating and collaborating
online.”

There is no question millennials are seizing on the new platforms of the digital era — the Internet, mobile
technology, social media — at a pace and depth that older age groups simply do not match, according to
a 2014 Pew Research Center report.

More than 80 percent of millennials are on Facebook, where their generation’s median friend count is 250,
far higher than older age groups. More than half of millennials have posted a “selfie” — a photo of yourself
— on a social media site. What a “selfie” is was a mystery to six in 10 baby boomers and a third of the
Silents, according to the Pew survey.

A 2014 report from Lab42, a research firm that surveyed millennials about new technology and social media
usage, revealed more than 80 percent believe technology will positively change the world.

It also painted a picture of a younger generation that is highly dependent on technology, especially
smartphones. Nearly half of millennials said they could not go a few days without a smartphone — and 30
percent narrowed that window down to a few hours or at most one day.

The majority also expressed an emotional investment in their smartphone. For 31 percent, the most
upsetting aspect of losing it would be the loss of personal collections of data, photos or music. For nearly
20 percent, it would be feeling disconnected.

These types of risk accompany our reliance on technology, Frydenberg says. In many ways, you just cannot
be sure the things that matter to you will remain available.

“The danger of technology moving quickly is that with change there is always the possibility it might take
things away,” he notes. “The best website in the world might not be there next week.”

Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyper-connected lives, according to a fascinating
2012 report from the Pew Research Center, which drew on more than 1,000 highly engaged members of
the Internet public. The experts — technology leaders, watchers, advocates and critics — looked toward
2020 and considered the impact of technology on the younger generation.
All agreed that in 2020 the brains of multitasking teens and young adults will be wired differently than those
over age 35. Fifty-five percent said the changes in learning behaviors and cognition will be positive,
although many said that was more their hope than best guess.

More than 40 percent predicted a negative outcome: The young wired brains will be easily distracted and
move away from deep-thinking capabilities and face to face social skills. Others said it will be a combination
of both scenarios.

They said a defining factor between winners and losers in 2020 will be the capacity to figure out the correct
attention-allocation balance in the new environment. Some of the most desired skills to be found in
millennials will be the ability to master data streams and be supertaskers.

Yet also key will be the ability to remain thoughtful, a Pew survey participant says.

“There will be a premium on the skill of maintaining presence, of mindfulness, of awareness in the face of
persistent and pervasive tool extensions and incursions into our lives,” says Barry Chudakov, a research
fellow in the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. “Is this my intention,
or is the tool inciting me to feel and think this way?”

Using connected devices makes us see our lives differently, Chudakov said in a recent book. The way we
change our lives, part evolving process, part new thinking and action is our Metalife — a synthetic, virtual
version or dimension of real life, he explained.

Meanwhile, says Cowen, the U.S. is in a slowdown, a technological plateau that will step up when we enter
the new era of revolutionary technology led by the best and brightest of the next generation.

People today already believe the younger generation is far more up to speed about the latest technologies.
According to Bentley University research findings, eight in 10 older adults think that millennials’ advanced
technological skills will allow them to get ahead in the workplace.

But the Bentley research report suggests that we have reason to believe the millennials will usher in the
new era with a sense of liberal responsibility. The corporate reputation of a company and social impact
efforts are important to more than 90 percent of millennials, it found. Eighty-five percent say working for
a socially responsible or ethical company matters.