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

[junior]

..... Which is why more and more people are using search engines like DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo

It's not beyond the realms that, one day, Google could go the same way as MySpace, Bebo, AOL et al.

You forgot Faceparty.

 

[Drumstick]

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.

Very much this, I'd still rather have s chat and a beer down the pub but Facebook gets far to much negative stuff said about it.

It's changing how people socialise just like mobile phones did dance did and even the old theatres.

Disputes aren't any worse in the main many mouth off but I'd be amazed if even 1% of those 'fights' ever actually result in anything, you could argue that going home and ranting it off your chest online has stopped a few fights.

 

[somerset]

It has obviously had an effect, but it has in my mind just changed the way we shop, online is convenient, provides plenty of good value, and provides lots of work for logistics firms and delivery men and women. Swings and roundabouts. To say it has destroyed is a bit strong, just changed. I have a theory that this demise of well known chain brands is actually leaving a gap for the reintroduction of independants.... this is a massive positive.

Look at Shoreham now, 10 years ago 25% of the shops were boarded up, now its thriving again, mostly with independant shops too.

 

[BadFish]

It has obviously had an effect, but it has in my mind just changed the way we shop, online is convenient, provides plenty of good value, and provides lots of work for logistics firms and delivery men and women. Swings and roundabouts. To say it has destroyed is a bit strong, just changed. I have a theory that this demise of well known chain brands is actually leaving a gap for the reintroduction of independants.... this is a massive positive.

Look at Shoreham now, 10 years ago 25% of the shops were boarded up, now its thriving again, mostly with independant shops too.

Ultimately the big chain stores in the high street were not providing the sevice that the customer wants. It amazes me that they still do not go out of their way to encourage you, most often i leave a shop thinking i might as well just get what i want online, have a wider choice and not have to deal with the half wits they have working in them. Ultimately the big stores have been slow to move with the times and it is their own fault that they have been left behind. They had us at their mercy for years and years and now they are feeling the pinch of the lack of good will they built up over that time.

I would love the high streets to be full of independent shops, bars and cafes. I live next to such a street and it is wonderful.

 

[somerset]

Ultimately the big chain stores in the high street were not providing the sevice that the customer wants. It amazes me that they still do not go out of their way to encourage you, most often i leave a shop thinking i might as well just get what i want online, have a wider choice and not have to deal with the half wits they have working in them. Ultimately the big stores have been slow to move with the times and it is their own fault that they have been left behind. They had us at their mercy for years and years and now they are feeling the pinch of the lack of good will they built up over that time.

I would love the high streets to be full of independent shops, bars and cafes. I live next to such a street and it is wonderful.

Exactly.

 

[8ace]

Supermarkets have done more to kill the "high street" than the internet.
Even then it's not the supermarkets or the internet - it's the punters who've made their choice.

 

[Simster]

Supermarkets have done more to kill the "high street" than the internet.
Even then it's not the supermarkets or the internet - it's the punters who've made their choice.

This.