Filed As Science Fiction: Google Media, Inc.

In 20 years, we'll be telling our children, to their astonishment, that Google was once a text-only search engine that made a name for itself by being the best at finding stuff on the vast web of (mostly text) information that was the early Internet. "You had to read?" they'll ask. "Oh, yes. Incessantly," we'll answer. "Type, too." By 2026, give or take, Google will have become not only a search technology, but the premiere media company providing access to a much different Internet that will be so mundane to a new generation while still, quite often, astonishing to the older one. You remember when remote controls had wires? How about TV knobs that clicked and fell off after a while? Of course, by that time, the Last Mile Race will have been decided. AT&T will have swallowed up all the Bells but Verizon (and Yahoo! for that matter); Comcast will have joined forces with other cable providers; and Google (gasp!) will have teamed with Microsoft, finding a common enemy in telecoms; all achieving fiber to the premises, effectively dividing fiber optic networks and each controlling their respective spectrum to deliver wireless access as well. But it will be fiber that determines the true potential of the Internet with speeds unmatched by air or by power line -- and the owners of those networks will hold tremendous power.These are broad predictions, but why not? Well, maybe wi-fi can deliver. Chinese set-top box manufacturer Airgo Networks just dark fiber Google bought up last year. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told movie trailers available for view. Google partner AOL here.") Drag this to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") Yahoo My Web