Today’s news featured a story about Intel releasing developments toward making shap-shifting, programmable matter.  They’ve already found some success, and expect improvements and advancements to continue to the point where, per the example given in the article on ZDNet, cell phones could take the shape of thumb drives or wrist watches when in standby mode to make them most convenient to stow, or perhaps even fashionable to wear.

Alright, so it’s doubtful that we’ll go so far as to turning our cellphones into living creatures (though wouldn’t it be a fun and easy way to have a pet?  Just kidding!), so it’s unlikely that any hats will become rabbits, but as the article points out, is this really any different from magic?

What would change, for the internet, and for internet marketing if and when this technology, or magic, becomes available to the average consumer?  Most noticeably, if we thought we were all available now, this would put our availability to shame.  Imagine taking a call from your sunglasses, or checking your email from your bracelet.

The development of this programmable matter is right up there with the metamaterials used in the first successful cloaking device developed about a week and a half ago.  We may not be able to take a bit of a branch, and, waving it about like Harry Potter and his friends, produce magic…but who needs a wand when you can program matter?

That an advancement such as the Widget Channel should be made just one day after we’ve explored new possibilities of mastering the internet is a significant coincidence.  Triangle Business Journal reported this morning that Intel and Yahoo have announced plans to develop the Widget Channel which will integrate with television.

A far jump away from WebTV, which simply turned a TV into a monitor, the Widget Channel will supposedly grant users an interactive television experience.  This integration would be more than a step toward added convenience.  By allowing users to watch videos, gather current news and communicate with others, the Widget Channel could mean an explosion of opportunity.

Not everyone goes onto the internet several times throughout the day.  The Widget Channel, which will cooperate with multiple technologies (including HTML of course), will allow businesses to reach more prospects.

The Widget Channel will forever change the world of advertising and marketing.  Who is going to watch commercials when they could check their email from their TV?  Email marketing campaigns and online video advertisement will take over commericals; they’re often less expensive to create and run.

What if the Widget Channel doesn’t work?  As we discussed yesterday, new innovations inherently have the ability to fail.  Should the Widget Channel realize that possibility, it is highly doubtful that the attempt would be for naught.  Other new ideas would be able to build upon the developed technology.

The internet is not the only element left to be mastered; clearly television shares that requirement.  By integrating them both, internet and TV will improve for both businesses and consumers.

We’ve succeeded in bringing commerce to the internet.  We’ve gone beyond that actually; we’ve made the internet the starting point for so many endeavors.  When movie-goers want to see what’s playing and when, they’ll visit IMDB, Fandango or even the internet version of MovieFone.  Does anyone even use paper maps anymore?  And no, not the kind that can be printed from Google Maps…the kind that are impossible to fold perfectly once opened, that’re big enough to be spread out over a car’s hood?  No, we use GPS devices, and frankly, even those are outdated now that we can get the same job done with our phones.

Words like Google and Paypal have become verbs in our vernacular: “I googled you,” or “You can paypal the money” have replaced “I searched for you” and “You can wire me the money.”  So what’s next?  How much further can we move into the internet, how much easier can it make our lives?  The answer is probably not very much.  We’ve reached the pinnacle of convenience, and though more convenience tools will always be under development, aside from implanting the internet into our brains, how much more convenient can it get (after February 2009’s digital transition, of course)?

True mastery of the internet and its capabilities does not end at creating the ultimate conveniences.  Truly the bounds are limitless.  In an earlier blog entry we looked at how while the markets that rely on a physical presence are declining while markets that work through the internet are thriving.  Mastery of the internet will lead to a stronger virtual economy through the added convenience of some of our latest innovations.

But what about the individual business?  E-mail marketing has reduced our focus on physical mailings (and it’s more effective too!).  Programs like Google’s Adwords will ultimately replace the need to telemarket, for it’s less random, less expensive, and more effective.  Internet marketing though is still young, in the grand scheme of things.  Just as ancient man curiously explored what happens when metal is heated, leading to the Iron and Bronze ages, just as the first search engines tenaciously began to catalog and sort as many websites as possible, so have we begun with internet marketing.

We’ve surpassed the data gathering and analysis stages.  We know internet marketing is effective and less costly than buying billboards and tv spots…else we would have stopped by now.  But to truly master the internet, we must transform it into an organic, intuitive experience.  The Net needs to almost think like a human.  Our searches can’t be based solely on popularity, nor can they be based solely on content.  Neither alone are enough.  We have to develop new methods that build on those we’ve already built, combining that organic feel with the logic of our algorithms.

The internet has made communications more brief.  Instead of writing, “That’s funny!  I’m laughing so hard!” we write short hand like “LOL.”  We’ve reached a point where we can send whole thoughts without spelling out more than three words.  “I’m hanging w/BFF, brb & ttyl,” translates to, “I’m hanging out with my best friend, I’ll be right back and I’ll talk to you later.”  Granted it’s doubtful so many abbreviations will find a home in business communications, whether it be business to consumer or business to business (B2B!), but incorporation of the internet into the world of business and marketing has sped things considerably, and will continue to do so because people are always available online, because they can take their buddylists and email with them on their smart phones.

So how do we get there?  Like the brilliant minds and pioneers that have come before us, we need to move forward without fear that we might not succeed right away.  Fortunately, advancing the internet doesn’t involve any experiments that could harm us physically (such as flying the first airplane), so fear of getting hurt in that facet doesn’t even exist.  What do we stand to lose?  Money?  Time?  In the world of business, time is money, so they’re really the same thing.  What we must remember is that every step takes us closer to achieving the next level in the evolution of the internet.  Even we personally do not succeed to the end we may hope for, the next person can apply what we’ve learned, and maybe combined, those efforts will lead to success.  In that way, money and time have not been wasted.

As of now, now being this minute, today, even this month or year, we’ve collected years worth of usage data and analyzed that data.  Who searches for what?  Where are they from?  When, during the day, night, year are they searching?  Why are they searching (research, purchasing)?  How are they searching?  Once they’ve completed their search, how do they use that information to get what they want or need?

The questions are endless, just like the data gathered on the answers.  We’ve even begun to understand the scope to which we can use this data and analysis.  We have graphing programs that help turn data into visually attractive and easy-to-understand images.  Google has recently brought us Insights for Search, making gathering and analyzing data quick and efficient.  But what comes next?

The internet isn’t just about spreading information anymore.  It now involves a thorough psychology that results in success for businesses, a wider reach for the media and an instant access to highly detailed information (who can imagine getting through a summer without the Internet Movie Database, or IMDB?).  Everyone is available all of the time.  Years ago, checking email once a week seemed sufficient enough, and everyone had just one email address; chances were that email address was with AOL.  Now our phones connect constantly to the internet and beep every time one of our seven email accounts receives a new message that passes SPAM filters.

We stand now on the cusp of the next necessary and logical step in the evolution of how the internet is used and understood.  More data, functions and interaction are consistantly in high demand but we have not yet begun to use the internet to its fullest potential.  Until now we’ve not been ready to.

Imagine scientists trying to clone a sheep before they understood how D.N.A. works and is structured.  The very idea is beyond ludicrous, to the point of being impossible.  Sixty years ago, personal robots were only the dreams of science fiction authors and two hundred years ago no one would have thought to travel faster than the speed of a horse.

Ten years ago we were not ready to transform the internet, to master it, because we were still learning about it.  Whether or not the internet was invented by Al Gore, it didn’t spring into existence in the same form it holds today; it has evolved.  And if science has taught us anything, it’s that evolution is constant.  Change is always inevitable, and we have reached the point where, with all of our data and analysis, we are ready to find out where the internet, now so much more than the “world wide web,” can take us…or more importantly, where we can take the internet.