Now We Have the Internet, But Why Do We Need It? 340
ReLik writes "BBC News is reporting on a survey carried out on the statistics of internet users in the UK, 'While the battle for digital access is being won, we now face a struggle to convince everyone the net is worth using' said Professor Richard Rose, of the Oxford Internet Institute. It begs the question why goverments around the world are encouraging everyone to use the internet, but is there really enough of a reason for everybody to need to? Is the internet suitable for everybody? Will it ever be?"
YES! (Score:4, Interesting)
Everyone should have access to the internet. I know there is a lot of bad things on there, but there is so much more good. Wikipedia, Google, all that stuff; if it weren't for the internet, I'd know practically nothing. It makes research so much easier than driving all the way up to the library, sifting through books and magazines and not even finding the right info.
It allows for fast and easy gathering of information and images, and sharing of all kinds of data (and I don't mean just Kazaa...)
Of course, we don't need the internet, but, we don't really need anything besides food and water, either.
Re:Thats a ridiculous question to ask the internet (Score:2, Interesting)
Is the internet suitable for everybody? Will it ever be?
So it does make sense to ask the current Internet users. For example in my experience some people will never be able to cope technically as the current level of requirements (PC ownership, stopping worm infections, etc.) are too high.
maps.yahoo.com (Score:4, Interesting)
Exchanging email with family.
Finding recipes.
Reading people's websites.
C'mon, "who needs the Internet?" is a silly question. The Internet is tremendously useful now (and offers lots of "unproductive" stuff, too -- quotes because the line between productive and unproductive is a mostly useless, fuzzy gray line not worth respecting in the way it's usually used) and will be more and more later on. People survived without it, just like you would survive without any of the foods you like best, or without recorded music, or without being able to read
timothy
100% (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Thats a ridiculous question to ask the internet (Score:5, Interesting)
Reminds me of Newt Gingrich (Score:3, Interesting)
I remember this township in South Africa that got this big box of computers for their school. Only problem was the electrification project hadn't even begun and there was only one working telephone.
I'm sure at the time they were very disappointed at not having the needed power and DSL line to connect to JenniCam.com, despite not having a proper sewage system, water purification or lights. Maybe they could have run an extension cord to the McDonald's three miles down the street (no joke, how messed up is that?).
It's a tool. That's all. (Score:3, Interesting)
--Word processors and laser printers work quite well without the presence of E-mail. I would simply start using postal mail more than I do now.
--Web site? An interesting toy, but is it something I REALLY cannot live without? I don't think so! I would find other ways to advertise my side business. There are enough cheap print mediums specific to my chosen field that I think I could afford a couple of small, well-placed ads.
--FTP? Handy, but hardly indispensable. Before the advent of the 'net, manufacturers of electronic and computer equipment would maintain dial-up bulletin board systems containing docs, drivers, and other such goodies. I'd simply start using them again.
What do all three of the above have in common? One word: COMMUNICATION. What does one need to know to be an effective communicator? Good writing and speaking skills, and the ability to THINK CAREFULLY about what you're writing or saying to your intended recipient(s).
No one "needs" the Internet to develop such skills. What is needed is a lot more focus on teaching such things in the school system, as well as the skills of critical and analytical thinking.
Cliff Stoll has already written extensively on this same topic (I.E., does anyone really need the Internet). Check out his books 'Silicon Snake Oil' and 'High-Tech Heretic.'
Re:YES! (Score:5, Interesting)
First, I want to make a shirt with that slogan =).
But seriously, if you'll allow me to turn my paranoid rant goggles on, doesn't this allow for the simple erasing of undesirable history, culture, memes, whatever? In many countries, the internet is not exactly a private infrastructure. Governments can and do control access to it, and to some exent, they at least try to control the data on it. Yes, it is much more egalitarian than say, broadcast television. But that is right now. What will the internet be in 20 years? What was it like 10 years ago? While many of us are hoping for The Street ala Snow Crash, I suspect there is a reasonable possibility we will wind up with regionalized AOL-esque services, and a some sort of wasteland like Freenet.
When governments push anything, it is usually all the better to govern us with. =/
Re:silly question (Score:4, Interesting)
Sort of along those same lines the question of "Do we need telephones, cable/satellite tv, etc." Basically making the point that the internet is another form of media delievery. Just so happens that cable/satellite tv is one way and the telephone is usually limited to one person, you have a broad content on demand information delievery service combined with a great communication tool that has standardized itself that for everyone on the internet, it's local.
So has the internet had a chance to shape society? Not yet, the "children of the internet" are still in college, and still just getting their first jobs. We (the children of the internet) won't be running the world for about 20 more years, you know right about the time the internet stops being cool?
But it will be a pivot point, when the standard of the internet starts to full replace medium delivery options it will make antiquated, such as cable/satellite TV and the telephone. It's already been proven that you can watch a sitcom on the internet and make a phone call on the internet. When it's standard that everyone has some type of "messenger" and standard voice and visual components, we'll have a valid replacement for the telephone/television.
But yeah, I do still agree with you, just thought that comparing the internet to something as vital for life as heart surgery or the automobile was a bit not fair to heary surgery and the automobile.
Re:Good question (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, the internet is only useful to people that want to know things, buy things, or discuss things. And there's the boobies.
It's a timesaver (Score:5, Interesting)
While this may sound like a luxury, throughout human history "free time" has been an indicator of wealth. Those who have to spend all of their time on day to day tasks have less time for leisure. Those who have mechanisms (servants, for example) at hand to take care of the myriad little tasks that pop up in daily life therefore have more time to spend doing whatever they like.
The Internet shortens the amount of time we have to spend on arranging the minutiae of life, and provides the *option* to spend more of our time on pursuits that we find enjoyable. How people spend that extra time (by working that much harder, by watching more TV, by going on a hike, etc.) is up to the individual. But if the duty of a representative government is to help improve the quality of its citizens' lives, then a robust Internet infrastructure is something governments should be pursuing.
The above points don't even touch on the *potential* productivity gains possible through true integration of the Internet into the fabric of business and government.
The Internet is information exchange (Score:2, Interesting)
Also companys are offering our information for sale, for $100USD I can buy my complete credit, criminal, medical, and court history from many different services. I can even buy a SSN and other information by providing a name, address, phone number, and the money. Big Brother lives, apparently and is selling our information.
If it wasn't for the Internet, the Windows Worms wouldn't spread so fast. But then they also wouldn't be detected so fast either. As opposed to sneakernet which used floppy disks to exchange files and info. That spread viruses slower.
I agree, some people shouldn't have Internet access, and others abuse it. Phishing is a very bad scam where someone spoofs an email from a company and claims the user has to reactivate their account by entering personal info into an email form. This includes bank account numbers, SSN, credit card numbers, address, phone numbers, mother's maidnen name, etc. All the info goes to the Phisher's web site and he/she can use it to steal the account and steal the identity of the victim. Not everyone falls for it, but those that do get ripped off and lose access to their accounts.
Nigerian Bank scams is another thing that ticks me off, pretending to be someone else and then asking for bank account numbers to deposit millions of dollars into and instead cleaning those bank accounts out.
Then all the Script-Kiddies and Kiddie Porn make matters worse. They should lose Internet access for doing those things. Too bad hardly anyone enforces that unless they get caught and go to jail for it.
I've had people steal my identity online by creating bogus accounts and putting my real information on it. I had Yahoo remove the post someone made using my real name and phone number, and I hope they have disabled the accounts they used. They put bogus info about me on those accounts that was just not true and is offensive to me. I also had people do this to me on Kuro5hin and other places. They usually get a slap on the wrist for doing that.
What we need is an Internet Police force and a set of rules for them to enforce. Everyone must follow those rules, or risk losing their Internet access. This has not yet been done, but needs to be done badly.
Internet Is A Nice Network, But The Content Sucks (Score:4, Interesting)
I didn't know anyone was asking that question, which is based on a doubtful premise.
But, the Internet is just a big network. By itself, it is empty. The real question is this:
Is the content made available by the Internet worth it?
My answer:
Content created by "old" media and made available via the net is worth it. E.g., having on-demand access to the best news reports around the globe is very much worth it.
But, content created by "new" born-after-the-Net media is largely useless, consisting of silly and hopeless attempts to mimic other media and with polished spins on old-fashioned bulletin boards.
The internet has become so commercial (Score:1, Interesting)
But it used to be better. If you searched for information on a topic you would find it instantly. Nowadays you find websites that are selling books and things that contain that information you used to find for free. Only a few pages into the search results do you actually find what you're looking for.
We should have an information search engine that ignores commercial websites.
Re:Network of friends (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, maybe, but I've found an interesting way to convince people who dismiss the Net as pr0n and spam: I send them to news.google.com. I tell them that, while the news stories are interesting, they are mostly what you'll see in the commercial media. But there's something there that's much more valuable: The lists of hundreds or thousands of news sources on each story. I suggest that they spend a little time looking through those lists for news sources they've never heard of, and visit them.
This is something that no previous commercial news source has delivered. You wanna hear N differently-biased reports of something going on in some part of the world? They're all there. Yeah, they're biased, but keep that in mind as you read, and as an intelligent person, you'll learn a lot.
Of course, this isn't exactly "passive information consumption". Google merely provides a convenient list of links. You have to actively dig through them, and read with a good amount of skepticism.
This really is something materially new in the news business. And now that google has prototyped it, we can expect that future news services will have to match it, or be dismissed as uninformative.
Re:Its more efficient than going to a library (Score:4, Interesting)
Exactly. The best analogy I can come up with for this is that the internet allows information which was previously 'liquid' to become 'gaseous' so it expands effortlessly and is practically impossible to contain. (Information went from solid to liquid with the invention of the printing press.)
Re:YES! (Score:2, Interesting)
man, you must not know a lot of things of lasting value! Have you tried reading philosophy or history on internet? Viewing art? Listening to music? Experiencing culture? Yes it's good for reading about programming languages but what a cramped world to live in
Internet is revolutionary (Score:2, Interesting)
The Internet is a revolution, because it allows new groups to form spanning the entire globe. People will discuss and spread new ideas that would never reach critical mass before. Slashdot is just one example of many. Believe me, out of all the noise, there is something revolutionary going on with the Internet. People are getting to REALLY KNOW eachother across the globe. This is unprecedented in our known history!
Make the net user-friendly (Score:2, Interesting)
Do I need the net? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yesterday a friend of mine was in town and wanted to hang out with me, so she had her boyfriend IM me and give me the phone number where i could reach her.
I realized that i hadn't been to the club we were going to meet at in quite awhile and wasn't sure i remembered how to get there, so i did a search on the name and got the address.
Then i went to mapquest and printed out directions.
Then i IMed my girlfriend to tell her i was going to be leaving work a little early and heading off to the club, so we needed to make the nightly call earlier than usual.
Then of coruse there are the more usual activites of checking up on news, paying bills, reading reviews of the newest games, chatting with friends, looking up random tidbits of information, etc.
Most of that stuff could technically be done without the net, given the necessary other resources, but the net sure made it a lot easier and more convenient.
Not just for Intellectuals. (Score:2, Interesting)