With only 25% of the World's population actually speaking English, it will not be long before we see an internet which could be seen to be parallel to the current English-net. For example, does anyone know how hard it is to type .com in Chinese?

I feel that the Internet is built on a structure that makes it easy enough to get a basic grip of technique and browsing. Simply typing in www.msn.com will enable you to gain access to news, sports, email, messenger etc etc, and the list is ever expanding.

The Web 2.0, merely a chat term, will enable users to freely create their own internet through community interactions similar to that of Myspace. It is still unknown whether 2.0 will actually help basic users understand the internet better or whether it will turn areas into complicated walled gardens.

However, if we think that it is now possible for 14yo kids to produce their own websites, create their own communities, interact with people from all races, I feel that the web has helped to simplify people's existence.

To actually truly be at one with the internet there is a large amount of knowledge one needs to acrue, but it gives everyone the opportunity to learn and experience things that years ago would not have been possible.

Vive l'internet

Web 2 is a method for programmers to build applications you run online in your browser. Don't know what you think it is, if you think it is a chat term! The fact that you have probably used such web 2 systems and been unaware of it shows how the web has been simplified a great deal

The Internet has been greatly simplified in the 40 years it has been in existance. (Yes, 40 years, the web is just one recent part of the internet) You no longer need to be a computer expert to use it, and it is no longer confined to science labs and universities. The compalint about having to type in the proper url to find a site is hilarious - with google claiming they alone index over 8,000 million web pages (and they don't index the private sections of university sites, or paid for services for example, which is a huge amount more), obviously you have to enter the url correctly to find a page. Do you write a letter to someone and just put their name on it and post it, expecting it to arrive at the correct address in china for example? Hence the need to enter the correct url for a web page.

The internet is a vast communication system, and many parts of it are so simple to use compared to 10 or 20 years ago, it has clearly come a long way. Unfortunately, manydesigners of web pages haven't all realised that showing off clever tricks doesn't always make life easier for people. Very few of them have even heard of usability engineering, far less applying it to their work. Don't criticise the web if parts are complex, criticise the web designer.

As for suggesting there might be a parallel web that is not in english - have you never seen web pages in french, spanish german, swedish etc etc etc. The web is not an english only media by any stretch of the imagination. you just don't find many german web pages if you enter an english word in google :)

The web will get simpler still, but the creative minds that design the software to make it simple have to work very hard indeed to make it idiot proof.