Real world or virtual?

In Britain we often lag behind other parts of the western world as far as modern technological developments go. Some times this is as a result of a very old infrastructure and extensive urbanization which would make modernization very expensive. Take the railways for example, the likes of Brunel built some incredible feats of civil engineering. But now, hundreds of years later the network is crumbling. The Forth rail bridge is another example of an incredible engineering example. It is an iconic structure that deserves to be preserved for generations to come. But i'm sure the bean counters at network rail wished they had something a little less expensive.

Zooming forwards to the present day, most homes in the UK now have broadband. 1Mb packages seem to be the norm these days using ADSL technology. ADSL is innovative as it allows existing copper cables to be used, some of which are probably older than I am! Being a bit of a internet junkie, i've gone for the cable option, a 20Mb connection. Of course advertised speeds and actual speeds vary considerably.

I believe that the UK needs a completely fiber based network, from ISP to home. This would be expensive, but i'm sure it wouldn't be that much more than a couple of aircraft carriers or the odd trident-replacement submarine. Such a network would open up some interesting possibilities. Real IP TV for example or IP based telephony for all. HD-Youtube anyone?

I wonder how a superfast broadband network would change social networking sites such as facebook. Maybe they'll have some applications worth using then (No I don't want to be bitten by a werewolf, vampire, turned into a pirate etc etc)

My prediction for the future is that as broadband speeds increase, albeit slowly, we'll see online applications such as Googles calender become more interactive. For example if I put an event into my calender, a football match say, the application will do everything associated with the event. It'll find traffic info, maybe suggest routes, perhaps book carpark spaces. It'll find results and stats on the game and previous fixtures. It'll show me the ground, where my seat is, and even a view of the pitch from my seat. Then it'll set my status on facebook and perhaps blog it on blogger or twitter.

So in short, I predict that our virtual lives will become intertwined with the real world. What we do in the real world will be influenced and then recorded by the virtual world. The virtual world will be a permanent feature of our real world lives, and when our time is up, our virtual worlds will remain making us immortal, providing the ultimate legacy.

Which raises the issue, is the only thing between mortal and immortal a server crash? Hmm, time to back up a bit I think.