Jaquet tells WebProNews that Roku was the first device to stream Netflix to the television when it first came out. Since that time, Roku has become an open platform. “We’re really a platform for the delivery of content to the TV,” Jaquet says.

Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and sports leagues like MLB, NBA and NHL can all be accessed via the Roku device. This includes live and on demand games. That’s not to say that these outlets are the only sources for content. There’s TWiT.tv, Revision3, Blip.tv and many other content providers.

Providing a range of content isn’t the only thing that Roku is doing to differentiate itself in the web TV arena.  Jaquet tells WebProNews that price and value are very important factors as well. “We are really well priced and positioned in that regard,” Jaquet says. There are three different Roku models ranging in price (and features) from $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99.

In addition to price, Jaquet tells WebProNews that simplicity is very key to adoption. “We’re trending towards a much older demographic,” Jaquet says. “So it needs to just work out of the box. You know, five minutes and you need to be set up.”

Because web TV is such a hot space right now, there’s also a lot of competition. One obvious competitor to Roku is AppleTV. Jaquet tells WebProNews that the proliferation of competition can actually be a good thing. “When Apple released their new product last year, it immediately sold very well,” Jaquet says, “but our sales doubled as well.”  The benefit here is that Apple–a recognized brand–was able to bring visibility and credibility to a new and growing space.

As far as the future of Roku and web TV, Jaquet tells WebProNews that more content is forthcoming. The more content available to web TV users, the less reliant they become on traditional cable. As a matter of fact, Jaquet says that about 12% of customers buy Roku to cut the cable cord. Of course, people still want their local sports and news as well as live in-market sports. “Twenty-five percent of our customers either cut the cord or severely diminish the number of premium services they have with their cable provider,” Jaquet says. This “cord shaving” approach, Jaquet says, is then complimented by the Roku solution.

Google recently rolled out details for its new platform Measurement Lab. The tool is designed to help Web users know if their broadband providers are blocking access to services. Dr Cerf says:

“Measurement Lab at Google is our contribution to helping people understand what the behavior of the network is.”

Unfortunately, very little of the performance information of the commercial Internet Service Providers has been available to the research community. Google hopes to change that fact with this tool so the researchers can improve performance and build better models.

Dr. Cerf is also known for being a strong supporter of net neutrality. He is pleased since the Obama administration has shown an interest in science, technology, and new business development. Since growth and innovation of the Web depend upon everyone having equal access to it, Dr. Cerf expects President Obama to enforce openness on the Net. Not only is this good news for the tech industry, but it is also good news for the economy since it will create new jobs.

When speaking about the future of search and the Internet, Dr. Cerf expresses excitement. He predicts three significant transformations to occur. First of all, he sees mobile devices growing tremendously.

“I hope everyone will have this information window on their hip or in their purse.”

Secondly, he predicts Internet speeds to become faster and faster. As this happens, Web users will do things they would not have normally done because it would have taken too long. Thirdly, he foresees more Internet-enabled devices such as appliances.

As the Internet evolves, it is interesting to view the revolution from a child’s perspective. Dr. Cerf says he wishes he was eight-years-old just so he could see what will happen in the industry. Most people think of technology as something new, but for children growing up today, it is simply part of their normal life. Dr. Cerf points out that kids aren’t afraid of technology and will therefore be able to expand it in ways that would not have occurred to the older generation.

On the future of Google and search, Dr. Cerf sees the giant search company sticking to its mission statement of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful. However, Google cannot do it alone. As the company’s Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Dr. Cerf says Google offers many of the services and programs Google for free because the company wants to encourage others to innovate as well. There are many areas within search that other companies can still expand on such as video, imagery, and sound.

One area that concerns Dr. Cerf is the issue of preserving bit content for future generations. As new software is created and developed, older documents could be lost if the new software does not support them.

“If we don’t preserve our ability to interpret the bits, they won’t be useful anymore.”

This concern is similar to the cloud computing issue: How do the clouds interact with one another? As much as the Internet has grown, there are still many opportunities for more innovation. Dr. Cerf compares the Internet to the universe since 95 percent of each one is still relatively unexplored.

“It’s [Internet] very heavily based on software. The interesting thing about software is it is an endless frontier…, which means that there really isn’t any end to this. It’s just a continuum of ideas and innovations and software that evolves in ways that you or I could never predict.”

This election period has made history in several different areas. We’re not going to rehash all of them since media outlets have already outdone themselves covering that aspect of the election. However, the impact of the Internet and technology in this election is something worth discussing.

Ron Paul’s enormous presence online will never be forgotten. Nor will Barack Obama’s move of alerting his supporters of his running mate via text message and email. And the very day John McCain announced that he was putting together a committee and considering running for President, the Senator had search ads running.

There is no doubt that the Presidential campaigns set the precedent for all other campaigns. Mindy Finn, the former Director of e-Strategy for Mitt Romney 2008 and who currently blogs for TheNextRight.com, takes this observation a step further and says the Presidential campaigns are expected to set a high standard for others to follow. The Presidential campaigns have large staffs of experienced members working to incorporate the latest and most effective tactics.

It will be interesting to see how future campaigns are conducted. Whatever the outcome may be at the polls, this election period has shown us that people are grasping the power of the Internet and social media and are finally allowing them to become mainstream.