(FORTUNE Magazine) – I just attended the Republican convention in Philadelphia. It was my first national political convention. It will likely be my last national political convention. Truth be told, I had the distinct sense that it (along with this year's Democratic gig in Los Angeles) could be everyone's last national political convention. Four years from now I think the leaders in both parties will wonder why they would want to spend so much money and effort producing an enormous event that serves no political purpose.

I say this with a sense of regret and nostalgia because my father attended every national political convention of both parties for at least three decades. His job as a political journalist called for attending political conventions the way my old job as a PC trade journalist called for attending computer trade shows. And now my industry has changed his industry so dramatically that the political process no longer requires a major gathering of delegates to make decisions about party policies and people.

I went to Philadelphia to moderate a panel session for young Republicans between the ages of 16 and 25. The confabs were organized by TechNet, a bipartisan political-action committee that tries to organize Silicon Valley's lobbying power. But my real reason for going was to experience the excitement and panoply of a convention.

It was fun. I got to see Tricia Nixon, Betty and Gerald Ford, Barbara and George H.W. Bush (otherwise known as Dad), and Nancy Reagan all sitting next to one another while Bob Dole and Norman Schwartzkopf spoke. I got to walk through the crush of delegates, politicians, and reporters on the floor of the convention. I got to eat and drink in Congressman David Drier's skybox at the First Union Center. All kinds of neat stuff. All good for, well...for one night of entertainment, frankly, and nothing more. I couldn't even get up the energy to stay on the floor to listen to John McCain's speech that night. Instead I watched on my hotel-room television--while I was working on my e-mail.

High tech isn't the sole reason that political conventions are toast. Television has had a hand, turning debate about genuine differences into pabulum. But our Internet Age is the spike in the heart of the conventions. When information can be distributed and shared universally and immediately, these one-time, overblown celebrations of the obvious--we already know the candidates, we already know their issues--are absolutely unnecessary.

But predicting the end of conventions seems somewhat obvious. The interesting question is, What will take their place? I don't know exactly, but I do know the changes will be driven by technology. The obvious way that our political process will be transformed by today's massive distribution of digital data is that we will eventually vote for our leaders electronically. Decisions we make on three issues will shape our digital political future:

--Electronic identities. We will need to agree on a way to represent ourselves safely and uniquely in electronic form so that we can cast a vote and be assured of having it counted. I lost my driver's license just before I left to go to the convention, so I had a hard time getting on airplanes, because airlines use driver's licenses to validate e-tickets. To vote online, we'll need an electronic ID that's accepted as widely as a driver's license.

The technologies exist to make that happen today. The only problem is that we're terrified of having a federal e-system that guarantees proper identification, mostly because we're so scared of Big Brother. And we're not sure we can really trust something that exists only as an electronic record. (Today's tangible driver's license somehow seems more reliable.)

--The digital divide. Computers still aren't universal. Those of us in the middle class or above all seem to have computers at home and at work. But significant parts of our society don't come in daily contact with computers and the Internet. Politics isn't like products; universal service really means universal. So we do need to develop the electronic equivalent of libraries and city halls, where anyone can come and be identified electronically and participate in the electronic political process.

--Electronic primaries. Once we all have trusty electronic IDs and some access to a computer, we need a method of identifying and choosing our candidates. Right now we put them through a physically grilling process, in which they fly around the country giving speeches and trying to fend off a press corps intent on revealing every last detail about their lives. The system works, in that it ensures we'll never get a real criminal in the President's office. (It doesn't seem to serve as a filter for stupidity, though.) But once we have an electronic voting system in place, it would be natural for candidates to conduct their entire campaign on television and the Net. We will need a system that allows for that, but with modifications: We may actually want to incorporate some version of the existing primary system, even though it seems too long and inefficient to belong in a real cybercampaign.

STEWART ALSOP is a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm. Except as noted, neither he nor his partnership has a financial interest in companies mentioned. He can be reached at alsop_infotech@fortunemail.com. His column may be bookmarked online at www.fortune.com/technology/alsop.