The Silent Future
jQuery is the de-facto library for the web, installed on 85% of websites. There are calls for the last few major release versions to be shipped in all major browsers. However, look what just came along. Two way data binding in the form of <angular />, Ember.js and friends. Suddenly the very thing that jQuery is so good at, DOM manipulation, is abstracted out of the picture.
The lesson, which we all know, is that change comes not from beating the incumbent at their own game but from focusing on what’s going to make their strength redundant. The interesting thing I’ve just realised is that the Internet makes communication redundant.
So far, the main impact of the Internet has been to change the way we communicate. However, the real shift is towards a pervasive web where information is implicit. Just as <angular /> abstracts out DOM manipulation, implicit information abstracts out whole tranches of activity. Communication, for so long the core skill of successful brands, people and organisations becomes entirely irrelevant.
It may be tempting to view a future of no communication as a land of the blind where the one eyed man is king. In a world with no marketing, surely the business that buys ads will thrive? However, this misses the pivotal cultural shift. As HG Wells illustrated so well, people’s behaviour is governed by the culture they operate in.
Ours has already changed, forever.
