The Internet And Its Implications
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The Internet: a vast, rapidly growing network of information, entertainment, and a surprising and frankly disheartening amount of sheer rubbish. Indeed, the Internet is rapidly becoming the universal hub for all Earth-wide communications, buisiness, and myriad other functions.
It raises many issues on a wide variety of facets: moral, social, technological, communication. Is the internet de-humanizing interpersonal relationships, making for cold, impersonal and anonymous interactions between people? It could be argued that it is, considering the amount of things which can now be done through strictly electronic means: long-term romantic relationships, sex, friendships, buisiness deals, conversations. even the everyday basics of life have been digitized in some form: you can now eat digital food, read digital books, basically LIVE online. Many thinking folk have gotten to making dire predictions about the effect this will ultimately have on Earth culture and the way we see each other.
Will we eventually live in a dismal world where our physical, corporeal bodies are considered unreal and insubstantial unless backed up by some easily acessible, cross-referenced electronic medium? Will our entire culture be digitized so that physical life becomes unneccesary and even obsolete, a hindrance to the ultimate freedom of e-life?
To understand that, it would help to know just what about the Internet causes thousands of prople to become glued to it, stopping only to replenish their supplies of cheeze puffs and coffe (and pay the tremendous phone bill they've wracked up). After all, it's just a bunch of individual computers connected together by phone wires. Couldn't be simpler. But with new innovations popping up everyday, it's no surprise that the internet is such a booming communications medium. All the stuff you can do anywhere else, you can now do online, and even a few things you've never thought of. The gaming industry, always the biggest computer-related industry, is sucking up the benefit with countless online gaming forums, information networks and discussion groups. But to top it all off, the industry that has grown the most as a result of the Internet is the Advertising industry. You can't go anywhere online nowadays without being assaulted by half a dozen animated banners, videos, and logos plastered heavily over every available space. There are even whole sites dedicated to companies, most of them sites that no one can seem to see a purpose for (Butterfinger.com?!?!?).
It raises many issues on a wide variety of facets: moral, social, technological, communication. Is the internet de-humanizing interpersonal relationships, making for cold, impersonal and anonymous interactions between people? It could be argued that it is, considering the amount of things which can now be done through strictly electronic means: long-term romantic relationships, sex, friendships, buisiness deals, conversations. even the everyday basics of life have been digitized in some form: you can now eat digital food, read digital books, basically LIVE online. Many thinking folk have gotten to making dire predictions about the effect this will ultimately have on Earth culture and the way we see each other.
Will we eventually live in a dismal world where our physical, corporeal bodies are considered unreal and insubstantial unless backed up by some easily acessible, cross-referenced electronic medium? Will our entire culture be digitized so that physical life becomes unneccesary and even obsolete, a hindrance to the ultimate freedom of e-life?
To understand that, it would help to know just what about the Internet causes thousands of prople to become glued to it, stopping only to replenish their supplies of cheeze puffs and coffe (and pay the tremendous phone bill they've wracked up). After all, it's just a bunch of individual computers connected together by phone wires. Couldn't be simpler. But with new innovations popping up everyday, it's no surprise that the internet is such a booming communications medium. All the stuff you can do anywhere else, you can now do online, and even a few things you've never thought of. The gaming industry, always the biggest computer-related industry, is sucking up the benefit with countless online gaming forums, information networks and discussion groups. But to top it all off, the industry that has grown the most as a result of the Internet is the Advertising industry. You can't go anywhere online nowadays without being assaulted by half a dozen animated banners, videos, and logos plastered heavily over every available space. There are even whole sites dedicated to companies, most of them sites that no one can seem to see a purpose for (Butterfinger.com?!?!?).
