Has the Internet been a great success or will it ultimately be a great disaster?

[looney]

The internet is a means not an end. Like the railways it is just infrastructure. What goes along it and how far and what speed is what really matters.

 

[Bozza]

The bad stuff hasn't even got going yet.

Communications, industry, commerce and education are all going through rapid change through the technological advancements made possible by the Internet.

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy. Some scary shit lies ahead.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Dunno.

But I spend far too much time on it.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

The bad stuff hasn't even got going yet.

Communications, industry, commerce and education are all going through rapid change through the technological advancements made possible by the Internet.

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy. Some scary shit lies ahead.

Great.

 

[Drebin]

The bad stuff hasn't even got going yet.

Communications, industry, commerce and education are all going through rapid change through the technological advancements made possible by the Internet.

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy. Some scary shit lies ahead.

Isn't that the plot of Die Hard 4?

 

[drew]

I suspect that after the high street the next big revolution will be the work place. Take the city of london. The vast majority of those that work there could equally work from home. Documentation is on line, video conferencing etc. There is just a tradition of being in 'the City' but I'm sure that will change. You already have many companies having 'hot desks' If there was a need for face to face meetings then you just travel up to London on that day. The repercussions however would be enormous. Imagine if you took out the majority of commuters from the trains, the operators would all find it impossible to make a profit. And I suspect the suit dept of M&S on Fenchurch St would be full of tumbleweed!!!

 

[Twizzle]

The bad stuff hasn't even got going yet.

Communications, industry, commerce and education are all going through rapid change through the technological advancements made possible by the Internet.

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole
countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy. Some scary shit lies ahead.

I am shocked that you of all people are that paranoid.
However I suggest that it won't be known or perceived enemies we need to be wary of, but those we trust.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Imagine it's created as much work / as many jobs as it's destroyed

 

[Bozza]

I am shocked that you of all people are that paranoid.
However I suggest that it won't be known or perceived enemies we need to be wary of, but those we trust.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I'm not paranoid, I'm a realist. The inter-connectedness of all things brings great power to both good and bad actors.

(I also currently work in Information Security and reports on this stuff is quite common: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C etc etc)

 

[beorhthelm]

I suspect that after the high street the next big revolution will be the work place. Take the city of london. The vast majority of those that work there could equally work from home. Documentation is on line, video conferencing etc. There is just a tradition of being in 'the City' but I'm sure that will change.

they've been talking about that sort of changes to working practice since the 80s with teleworkers, it hasnt happened for various reasons. a lot of people dont like home working or find it impractical (distractions). people feel they are missing something if they are away, not being seen. big corporations love their "face time", its what drives international air travel. throw in the networking and the social, the city will be the last place to abandon commuting to the office.

 

[8ace]

Facebook is the worst thing about the internet.
All the porn, gambling, shopping and arguing with people are great.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy.

Surely you (or Hans Kraay's Fan Club) could just ban them from the internet?

 

[T soprano]

I hate it !!!!
Killed the art of conversation
Killing the high street
Killed the music industry ( yes it has )

Facebook is the root of all evil
In 20 years time people will be zombiefide in their own homes Because of the curse of the Internet
It's the end of civilisation as we know it
" shall we go out 4 a pizza "
"no let's order a Dominos on the Internet get it delivered "

"i like that new No Direction album shall we go into town to Hmv "
"nah just stay at home eating the pizza & download it "

I overheard this conversation while out the other day
"oh Stacey you coming out Friday "
"nah gonna get me self a bottle of wine stay in and spend the night on Facebook"
FFS I hate the Internet

I like NSC though

 

[skipper734]

Nerdy types can get up to all sorts, working from home. Computer Expert Outsources Own Job To China - Yahoo! News UK

 

[Grombleton]

I quite like it. It pays my wages.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I see it as an evolution of what libraries were, our ancestors probably thought libraries would change the way of life much the same way people think the Internet will change us but who spends all day in a library?

You misunderstand libraries. No-one was ever intended to spend all day in a library. They are for borrowing a book, taking it home, reading it and then THINKING ABOUT IT. Sometimes for the rest of your life.

The problem with the internet is that we have access to so much stuff that, once a bit of reading has been done, people instantly move on to another bit of stuff. No-one gives themselves time to think about anything.

 

[HovaGirl]

I love the internet.

But.

It's a disaster for the High Street, as has already been mentioned. And libraries, and homework, which can just be done by cut-and-paste now.

My daughter-in-law can't go 10 minutes without surfing away on her mobile. She has no concept of how rude it is to ignore people on Christmas day, surfing and clicking away. And she's not the only one. They click in hospitals, pubs, bars, trains, buses, click, click, click. And ignore everybody. It is destroying social awareness.

People have access to too much information. So much, they don't know what to do with it. It's bewildering to have this much info about events on the other side of the world, while hardly being aware of what is going on at home. And a lot of this information is just plain false. Publishers, editors and proof-readers were all there to make sure the facts were facts and that everything had the correct spelling and punctuation. Now, it's a free-for-all. No punctuation required. No spelling required. Permission is granted to use the wrong word for the wrong purpose. The internet will actually make people more ignorant, in the end.

The internet is also generating a lot of angry people. Go on a forum, a newsgroup, a chat page, and there they are, the angry people, convinced that every comment is directed at them, personally. How dare you call me an ignorant pig, they scream. You are so stupid, you must be an amoeba, they scream. Because they can. No one can see them. No one can hear them. No one listens or has to. No one knows who they are or what they look like. The anonymity suits the kinds of insular, depressive people who would be on medication if they were in the outside world and not tapping away, angrily, in a virtual one.

 

[HovaGirl]

As a spin-off question, how do people think the internet will evolve in the future? Just ten years ago we had dial-up and couldn't access at speeds more than 56kbps, now in some parts of the world they have 100 mbps internet as standard.
A question for you older folks: When you first heard the word 'Internet' and discovered what it was, did you think it would become so widespread and influential in modern day life?

Yes.

 

[HovaGirl]

The bad stuff hasn't even got going yet.

Communications, industry, commerce and education are all going through rapid change through the technological advancements made possible by the Internet.

Terrorism and warfare will follow, and not in the form most would recognise. Power networks and water supplies for vast areas, possibly whole countries, can be manipulated by skilled coders from a rogue state on the other side of the world as part of an attack on an enemy. Some scary shit lies ahead.

Yep. Not to mention the financial manipulations some people will come up with, indeed, already have, to some extent.

 

[BadFish]

The internet, facebook, twitter and what ever comes next are not destroying the social fabric of society they are changing it. They are wonderful ways of learning new information and sharing opinions with a wide range of people. I would suggest that it is not the format that people hate so much it is the way people use them and what people choose to talk about. My belief is that people talk about the same shit of facebook and twitter as they do in 'real life' and much of the stuff we talk about as human is pointless and frivolous but that is how we interact.