Google VP thinks the future of the Internet is mobile

At a speech in Bangalore, India, Google Vice President (not to mention co-designer of the Internet's basic architecture) Vinton Cerf told reporters that the future of the Internet may rest in the palm of your hand. While the number of Internet users has boomed in recent years, those wily Intertubes only reach as far as 1.1 billion people--about a sixth of the world's population. The rest of the world will eventually get online but not with computers, according to Cerf. "You will get those other 5.5 billion people only when affordability increases and the cost of communication goes down. The mobile phone has become an important factor in the Internet revolution." Given the explosive growth in developing markets like India (where around 7 million new mobile users sign up every month), Cerf's comments seem right on the money. However, we've seen mobile Internet applications languishing for years on our side of the pond, where user uptake remains low. The mobile Internet may bring the real Internet revolution--but it might also be further off than we think.

For more on Cerf's comments:
- see this Yahoo News article