What will the web look like in 100 years
WordPress wants you to take a bet on two things, one that the web will exist in 100 years, and two WordPress.com will still be knocking around then. WordPress is offering The 100-Year Plan to secure digital presence, which they say is aimed at families, founders and individuals. What will this bet cost you? $38,000 dollars.
By giving WordPress $38,000 dollars in return you will get a century-long domain name, backups and submit the website to the Internet Archive, Enhanced Ownership Protocols, the best WordPress.com hosting package and their best support.
Is it worth the cost?
The average domain cost is somewhere between $10 to $20 dollars per year, let’s say it’s $15, with some quick maths that is your domain name secured for $1,500 for the next 100 years.
Next is the hosting and support of the website, which WordPress says is the top-tier they are offering plus the extras. Which after converting from pounds to dollars is about $25 a month or $300 a year, so over 100 years it would be $30,000. Because it’s a fixed upfront cost, that’s ignoring inflation and it also comes with the benefits of backups and their enhanced ownership protocols (whatever that looks like).
What are the risks?
Today WordPress is one of the most-used content management systems (CMS) on the market, taking the majority of the market. It’s safe to assume that in the next 10 to 20 years that will continue but as time goes on it becomes less clear. We’ve seen recently the rise and fall of social media networks and how unpredictable that can be.
The pricing looks fairly competitive and it does cover everything you would need from a hosting and content management system. It does have this feeling of you’re not owning your domain or hosting of your website and instead you are leasing it which may not suit everyone.
Also the web in general, what will that look like in 100-years. I doubt many people will be able to accurately say what that could look like, especially with the recent changes in technologies and software.
I like the idea though that WordPress are looking for security and support from their users, rather than funding from venture capitalists and the way they are marketing this idea is compelling, such as this quote:
The 100-Year Plan isn’t just about today. It’s an investment in tomorrow. Whether you’re cementing your own digital legacy or gifting 100 years of a trusted platform to a loved one, this plan is a testament to the future’s boundless potential.
It’s a thought provoking idea, of what will happen after we’re gone of what will happen to the content we’ve produced, who will maintain it, own it and carry on with it going forward.
Written by
Senior Interaction Designer and Co-Author to Tiny CSS Projects