The tools for living on the net already exist in several forms. It is already possible to host your own ftp server off your computer so you can have access to your files. Google has many programs already online for editing almost all business related documents with Google Docs. Sumo Paint already has a picture editing tool online, and Glide OS already has a cloud operating system. There are even several companies working on streaming video games over the internet!

The key feature missing here is connectivity. The actual connection to the net at any time is still science fiction. There are some cities in the world where you can connect almost anywhere, but once you leave the city your connection goes dead. Mobile internet like 3G (and future 4G) is better, but it’s not practical to put up cell towers everywhere to get fast connections and it’s still too slow.

Science fiction has put forward several different solutions that are possible in the near future. One example is a satellite system that can connect everyone outside the range of cell towers. Improved wireless standards also greatly increase the range beyond what current towers can. I’m no scientist but I do know that this sounds possible soon. Maybe LTE?