While I was writing my post about the permanent nature of the Internet, secretly in the back of my mind, I knew that there were things that could happen that would destroy those sacred “permanent” foot prints. You see, while the Internet usually has many copies of a given piece of data, a large majority of it sits on servers under half a dozen US companies (Google). When these companies go under, with them, so will our data. And I’m fairly positive that no company can last forever. Forever is a very long time.
Natural disasters can do their damage too. Take the major earthquake that screwed over Asia, effectively cutting off a third of the world from half of the Internet. This brings up another possible way the Internet may not be forever.
The Internet can fork. Right now there is one giant Internet. But what happens when it forks into two, three, or 20 pieces? What happens if a group of countries decides to make their own net (China)? What happens if that net catches on and the old one is left behind? How likely is this to happen? Well, this all depends on the economic stability of the US and the international ability to keep overall peace. If a World War III broke out, you can kiss the united Internet good bye.
When I said “forever” yesterday, what I really meant was “Probably your lifetime. Maybe ten lifetimes.” Forever is a long time.