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INTERACTIVE Are you likely to use the 'Webtone' buzzword in everyday conversation? Yes No View Results

April 30, 1999
Web posted at: 1:39 p.m. EDT (1739 GMT)

by Jeanette Borzo

(IDG) -- If you've ever misspoken and said "intranet" when you meant "Internet," we've got a new buzzword that covers all things IP.

All network types, from local area networks to extranets to wide area nets and the Web will meld into one constantly available, service-focused network known simply as the Internet, says Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems.

As network devices and bandwidth become even more widely adopted, the Internet's focus will shift from information to services, Papadopoulos says. He spoke this week at the Java Enterprise Solutions Symposium developers' conference in Paris. Sun's president Ed Zander also discussed the same concept at the show.

Their buzzword is Webtone, which they define as the ever-present availability of the Internet and its services.

"By Webtone we mean global availability of network services with the same reliability as we have with telephone dial tone today," Papadopoulos says.

Sun is betting you'll be willing to pay for Webtone and all the services you'll get over the Internet--while voice calls eventually will be free, Papadopoulos predicts.

Net consolidation

In part, these changes are possible because the many forms of current networks are collapsing into one Internet, Papadopoulos says. Companies' intranets and extranets will soon be indistinguishable from the Internet, and private LANs will begin to disappear. "Firewall technology will begin to move into servers," Papadopoulos says.

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The consulting organization USWeb identified the concept last year as "supersites." The term refers to Web-based networks that are assembled as concentric circles, with appropriate security at each layer. A company's public Internet site is at the outside, and its internal Web is at the center, but the same code services both.

The Webtone phenomena is bolstered as network bandwidth grows, Papadopoulos says. Microprocessor speeds double every 18 months, but network bandwidth and speed double every 4 to 6 months. "Network growth is far outstripping the underlying technology growth," he says. "We have to put more stuff onto the network."

New types of services will appear on the Internet, as businesses develop and package services for specific industries. Papadopoulos calls them "meta-service providers." For example, a company might package and resell Internet-based services for hospitals or bakeries.

Computer-phone combos

The network computers of the future that tap into Webtone will grow out of today's Web phones, like Alcatel SA's monitor-screen-based phone, called the WebTouch One, Papadopoulos says.

Consumer devices, including personal digital assistants, televisions, and refrigerators, are connecting to the network at a rate far faster than PCs did, Papadopoulos notes. Availability of services will boost that, he adds.

Don't expect to buy much more shrink-wrapped software, Papadopoulos adds. "Software no longer gets loaded onto the device," he projects. The software may instead come with a new mobile phone application. More often, you'll access applications on a network, and no longer need to load updates.

And you won't wait long: Papadopoulos predicts this is five years down the road. "The amazing thing will be that all this stuff really works," he says.

Peggy Watt of PC World contributed to this report.