Over the past few years, we have seen some major changes in Web technologies. And everytime a new thing was about to be implemented, people were scared for some reason. Some were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to adapt, while others were afraid that they would lose their jobs.
While these fears eventually prove themselves as irrational, they seem quite real at the beginning. This year we have decided to share with you how the web will change in 2018 and why these changes won’t be as dramatic as many think, so that you can spend the following year more relaxed.
Chatbots
“Chatbots are taking over!” and “Chatbots are replacing humans in customer service” are just some of the regular headlines that have been dominating the blogging scene over the past year. While chatbots stand as a convenient software solution, they are not designed nor do they have what it takes to replace humans in any industry.
Chatbots are designed to fill the holes in customer service, not to squeeze out their human colleagues and take over. And this is exactly why chatbot has became a buzzword in 2017. Since chatbots are available 24/7, completely able to juggle conversations with thousands of customers at once and automate repetitive tasks, everyone was talking about chatbots and how can they help businesses connect with people.
With companies like SnatchBot providing bot building platforms for free, we should certainly expect to see more and more of them on the Web, but there is no reason for people to worry about their jobs. If anything free chatbot platforms are there to help teams handle repetitive tasks allowing quicker information transfer, ticket handling and more time for human agents to focus on important tasks.
Cryptocurrencies
2017 will be known as the year of the cryptocurrency. Ever since the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin spiked, people became obsessed with cryptocurrencies. You can read about them all over the Web. The question that arises is “Will cryptocurrencies make the transition from the Web to brick-and-mortar stores?”
While there are those who tell us that cryptocurrencies will overcome all challenges and find their way to mainstream adoption in 2018, it may not be so true. Bitcoin and all the alt-coins have come a long way up until now, but they are simply not ready to expand from the virtual into the real world.
Currently these currencies are too unstable to be even remotely considered as a viable real-world currency option. But with so many cryptocurrency advocates and PhDs behind them, we can only wait and see. From the current situation, unless you are investing in these, you can rest assured that 2018 won’t get these currencies past the Web. Or maybe not!
Mobile Future
With the rise of smartphones and tablets the number of mobile internet users is growing exponentially. There are billions of mobile devices connected across the Web each day. This is why one of the largest Web Corporations, Google, started to push the creators of online experiences to optimize website for mobile.
Today, if you want your website to be ranked better, you should definitely consider switching to a responsive design and fine-tuning visual and functional experience for mobile users. And while there is no doubt that Google’s advice on the best practices has an impact on publishers and web designers, the real question is did mobile ever change the Web?
The mobile industry has pushed the web into adaptation mode. The change was aesthetic in nature and it didn’t have any other impact on Web technologies beside forcing them to adapt to mobile users.
Internet of Things
The number of interconnected devices and sensors on the global network is increasing as fast as the number of mobile internet users, if not even faster. Since all of these devices communicate with each other, the data flow is exponentially increasing as well. Did you notice the Internet slowing down? Of course you didn’t.
Under the hood, IoT did more than just change the Web – it made it faster, more reliable, informative and useful. Thanks to IoT, businesses from various industries can now reap the benefits of being connected to Earth’s global computer network. There is even a currency that the devices connected through IoT will use to exchange data and trade information.
The Web will definitely keep changing and evolving. As you can see, none of the things we have covered in this article will have a major impact on the Web. The chatbots will definitely make B2C and B2B communication streamlined and more convenient, without jeopardizing job positions.
The devices connected on IoT network will soon start trading data. The Web will definitely continue to adapt to mobile users, while cryptocurrencies will remain locked in the online world, at least for now.
