15 Internet Trends: The Magnitude of Upcoming Change Will be Stunning

Mary Meeker from leading venture capital investors Kleiner Perkins presented on internet trends at Stanford last week.  It’s worth reviewing.

The money quote: “The magnitude of upcoming change will be stunning—we are still in spring training.”  Meeker lists 15 trends in support of this claim:

1. Nearly ubiquitous high-speed wireless access in developed countries
2. Unprecedented global technology innovation
3. Ultra competitive markets for mobile operating systems + devices
4. Broadly accepted social +interest graphs/information transparency
5. Fearless (& connected) entrepreneurs
6. Difficult ‘what do I have to lose’ economic environment for many
7. Available (& experienced capital
8. Fearless (& connected) consumers
9. Inexpensive devices/access/services (apps)
10. Ability to reach millions of new users in record (& accelerating) time
11. Social emerging as starting distribution point for content
12. Aggressive (& informed) ‘on my watch’ executives at ‘traditional companies’
13. Unprecedented combo of focus on technology and design
14. Nearly ‘plug & play’ environment for entrepreneurs-marketplaces/web services/distributed work/innovation productivity tools/low startup cost
15. Beautiful/relevant/personalized/curated content for consumers

KPCB notes the re-imagining of education from classrooms, lecture, and reading materials to interactive, online, accessible by anyone anywhere anytime.

“From learning by listening to learning by doing…education and learning will become as much fun as videogames,” said Bing Gordon.  “We call it ‘full body learning’.”

Meeker concludes, “The cycle of tech disruption is materially faster and broader than prior cycles.”

On “USA, Inc.,” Meeker says there’s, “a lot to be excited about in tech, a lot to be worried about in other areas.”