Why there is more Internet innovation ahead of us than behind?

This first came up in a chat with a VC friend, about whether undisclosed technology will work out on the web. As we talked, I realised that any technology that makes our increasingly online life more like our (current or desired) offline life, will eventually work - someone will find a business model that will work. Its only a matter of time.

This may well be a good test of (pie-in-the sky?) consumer Internet ideas - I have tested a few ideas, including the one in that chat, and this seems to provide a good data point.

Consider that, and the fact that we have only truly started tackling the problem of text on the web (most search, email, www - all text!), and that much of our communication in the offline world uses sounds and sight, imagine how much needs to be done ! We have barely built the plumbing of the Internet, I would wager there are a couple of decades of application innovation (which in turn will drive more plumbing innovation) for us to get anywhere near that goal. The rise and rise of VoIP is just one example of how much room there is for application innovation, especially when it tackles a more intuitive communication tool - sound, as opposed to text.