Over on the VortexDNA blog, Kaila came up with her take on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Kaila is a smart lady who has a large reading list (both printed and bit-based) so when she speaks (or writes), one tends to listen.

Kaila’s internet hierarchy of needs looked like this;

It’s a great framework and falls nicely into line with previous posts of Kaila’s about the ultimate potential of the internet. The way I see it at this point in time we’ve climbed the first three or so rungs of the ladder but all those rungs involve merely using the internet as an adjunct tool to what we do day to day. We are still yet to see widely adopted technologies (and it will be technologies that drive the paradigm shifts that allow us to climb to higher levels) that truly contextualise the web experience and drive personal growth possibilities.

So the question is, what will it take to get us to higher levels? Simply wider adoption of existing stuff to achieve a truly global and all-encompassing connected web? Or the introduction of the fabled semantic web? Perhaps context driven technologies such as VortexDNA’s interesting product?

I guess no one know for sure, what I do know is that the journey will be interesting….

PS – I’m just wading through Alvin Toffler’s The Third Wave (summer holiday reading). Given that it was written nearly three decades ago, Toffler had a remarkable insight into where the world was heading. Recommended reading for those interested in the sociological aspect of paradigm shift.