day's Internet is simply amazing, particularly when combined with broad- band access. Yet speeds are set to rise dramatically. Organizations such as the academic-sponsored Internet2 and the U.S. gov- ernment's Next Generation Internet are already working on developing a global network that can move information much faster and more efficiently than today's Internet. In 2003, Internet2 researchers sent data at a speed of 401 megabits per second (Mbps) across a distance of over 7,600 miles, effec- tively transmitting the contents of an entire CD in less than two minutes and providing a taste of what the future Internet may be like. By 2025, we'll likely be using Internet version 3, 4, or 5 or perhaps an entirely new type of network technology that hasn't yet been devised. How fast will it run? Nobody really knows right now, but backbone speeds of well THE NEXT INTERNET over 1 billion bps appear likely, providing ample support for all types of multimedia content. Access speeds, the rate at which homes and offices connect to the Internet, should also soar-probably to well over 00Mbps. That's more than enough bandwidth to support text, audio, video, and any other type of content that users will want to send and receive. The next-generation Internet will even revolutionize traditional paper- based publishing. Digital paper-thin plastic sheets that display high- resolution text and graphic images-offers the prime attributes of paper, including portability, physical flexibility, and high contrast, while also being reusable. With a wireless connection to the Internet, a single sheet of digital paper would give users access to an entire library of books and newspapers. Ultimately, however, an ultrabroadband Internet will allow the creation of technologies that can't even be imagined today. Twenty years ago, nobody thought that the Internet would eventually become an everyday consumer technology. In the years ahead, the Internet itself may spin off revolutionary, life-changing "disruptive" technologies that are currently uni