The Web’s effects on work, leisure, and life in general have been so transformative that people and businesses who stick to the same old methods will fall steadily behind, says venture-capital investor Marc Ostrofsky. But a bounty of new opportunities will arise for those that are forward-thinking and embrace change. Word of Mouse explores the Web’s future development and what it will mean for businesses and consumers.
Mobile phone-based Web access, in particular, will empower consumers, businesses, and organizations to get more data, more quickly, and use it to make all kinds of better-informed decisions. Smartphones now connect users to information ranging from travel guides and meal recipes to job leads and medical advice. In coming years, expect voting, grocery shopping, and a variety of new financial services to be widely smartphone-accessible, too.
Other software tools will feed users ever-larger volumes of information about their surroundings. Businesses and consumers alike should plan for the proliferation of facial-recognition software, digital billboards that change their ad displays in accordance with the viewer’s age and gender, and augmented-reality tools for users to look up data on any object or person in sight within milliseconds.
Ostrofsky lays out a wide range of suggestions for how entrepreneurs, in particular, can use evolving Web technologies to their advantage. His insights cover suggestions for raising funds via crowdsourcing, creating and promoting your personal “brand” via social-networking sites, and how to stay safe from malware and cyberattacks, among other topics.
Word of Mouse is a practical guide to technology evolution and its ramifications for everyday living. Whether its readers are business owners, employees, or consumers, they’ll find a wealth of relevant and thought-provoking observations.
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