Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine as well as a writer, photographer and conservationist.  At the 2007 EG conference, Kelly discussed the evolution of the web throughout its 5,000 days of existence, as well as his predictions for the next 5,000 days.

It has been over 6 years since the conference took place and it’s interesting to see where we are today. In the beginning of Kelly’s presentation, he described the web as, “This kind of cornucopia of stuff just coming and never ending is amazing, and we’re not amazed.” This response to the web is quite eye opening. The web has become a technology that as a society, individuals take for granted. It truly is amazing when you stop to think about all the web has to offer each and every day. The younger demographics have been privileged to grown up with such technology; many are unaware of the magnitude of the web’s evolution.

The web is a vital part of my daily life, between work, school and my social activities. It wasn’t until I watched Kelly’s presentation that I realized how easy the web has made my life. I cannot imagine how I would be able to accomplish all that I do without such technology. Recently, I have become consumed with social media platforms, in particular Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Consequently, I believe Kelly’s intuition regarding the idea that the web’s evolution into a linking of “data-to- data” and “to share is to gain” has come to fruition.