I'd like to add an observation regarding the application layer, as well as a prediction:

The last ten years have largely seen the internet (and technology in general) making things more convenient for the majority of the population: Think phones / "the internet at your fingertips", cloud apps that synchronize our data across devices, content platforms like Netflix & Spotify & <insert your favorite newspaper> which allow us to consume our favorite content anywhere, anytime, and online stores like Amazon that allow us to get our hands on practically any product we could wish for—now even within the same day. There are also fitness trackers which record all the data for us that, previously, we would have had to measure and jot down manually (which is why we didn't), and messengers like WhatsApp which allow us to get in touch with anyone at any time. (Anyone remember how the contacts we had in AIM/YIM/ICQ/MSN messenger used to be online only when they were at their computer? How annoying it used to be to exchange files and photos with friends?) We even have personal assistants now which remind us of upcoming events, notify us about traffic jams on our way to work and allow us to communicate with our devices through speech and thus in a more natural way. Finally, don't forget news feeds and content aggregators like Facebook, Instagram and Google News which make it so effortless to consume content that, for many users, they have basically become the only portal to the internet and any content outside these platforms is basically invisible unless some post on, say, Facebook links to it. Which, in turn, implies that providers outside these platforms necessarily have to somehow pick up their users on these platforms and bring them to theirs. (Remember how it used to be the other way around? But how many people really still type in URLs in their browser's address bar these days? How annoying and inconvenient!)

At the same time, almost all platforms that have risen over the past ten years are those whose value proposition is precisely this: Convenience. One could even say that the reason today's internet is an internet of monopolies and big walled gardens is that it's more convenient. Even the internet of things basically is/will be nothing else than added convenience (at least when it comes to private consumers).

On the other hand, the reason that privacy and security concerns don't matter to the vast majority of internet users is that they are not only not convenient—they are the exact opposite. The same thing goes for the algorithms that tell us what to consume. Even if they all were open-source, who would really take the time to understand how they work?

Call me a pessimist but I predict that this trend will prevail. Every consumer-oriented Next Big Thing® will make our lives even easier. At the same time, we will continue to lose control over our data and over what we consume as algorithms dictate our interests.

Remember how the internet of the 2000s used to be this promised land where, to us techies, anything seemed to be possible? This internet which was going to be oh-so egalitarian and which promised to bring democracy to the entire world? These times are over. Brave New World and The Circle, here we come.