Unpredictable certainty: the Internet and the information infrastructure

The Internet's future will reflect its own evolution and its interaction with other elements of the information infrastructure. That interaction will hinge more on business factors than on technology. Although it is clear that the Internet will have substantial influence in the larger information infrastructure by the turn of the century, it is unclear how the Internet will realize that influence. Will the Internet continue to grow? Will the Internet's definition expand to include other internetworked entities? How will protocol changes transform the Internet from the inside out? The answers to these and other questions will determine the role the Internet will play.