We the technology-awed populace always view all technology as being better, faster and taking us to a better place. The internet seems like no exception. Yet, every new technology also takes away something...Stumbled upon this interesting article 50 Things That Are Being Killed By the Internet at PSFK. Have a read...
Gleanings enmeshed with my thots on some of them...
1. Punctuality. Before mobile phones, people actually had to keep their appointments and turn up for lunch on time. Texting friends to warn them of your tardiness five minutes before you are due to meet has become one of throwaway rudeness of the connected age.
This is going to be a huge conflict area between generations. My father runs his life by the hour, I am far more comfortable keeping things fluid all the time!
2. Memory. When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the "mere" storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.
Today, if you have a story, the facts and the props are available for free on the net. However, as an agency planner and now a trends and futures consultant, I find this aspect liberating!
3. Dead time. When was the last time you spent an hour mulling the world out a window, or rereading a favourite book? The internet's draw on our attention is relentless and increasingly difficult to resist.
All former dead-time is now pottering time - twitter, flickr, youtube, fb, sms, mobile chat, gtalk...And we are more busy than ever before, our reflection time has dropped to an all time low!
Just because the pipe of our conversations is broader and the flow 24X7 hasn't guaranteed that better stuff is flowing through those pipes. Although, the more plugged you are, the more you can scan the global brain for ideas and inspiration.
4. Mainstream media. While in India, print might be growing and TV getting higher TRPs, for some of us mainstream media has been quietly marginalised over the last few years.
- We don't miss the week-night news. In fact haven't watched the weekly bulletin which were so much a part of life a decade back.
- Right now we are consuming a mash-up of mainstream media and new media. This may be the intermediate step before some of us totally migrate to newer forms of digital media(personalised, customised, on-demand)Already, in the Western markets, free news and the migration of advertising to the web threaten the basic business models of almost all media organisations.
Mental post-it : What else is being killed by the internet, new media? Isn't it an interesting thought to stay with for a while...
Manish,
ReplyDeleteEvery bit you've written is so true! In fact, it's so annoying when I see people driving/riding with a cell phone conversation going on simultaneously. It's like as if one cannot live without a cell phone anymore!
Being in advertising, I also see the use of a photo shoot reducing, especially so with clients having a small budget. All one has to do is go to a site like imagesbazaar and buy images. (One client of ours has been using the same image for all their campaigns 'coz they "own" an image!):-D
Anupama
thanks for your comment anupama.
ReplyDeleteyes...new technology is changing us / has changed us so much...
on the other hand the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
this short conversation(if you can call this one a conversation) which you and I are having would never have been possible pre-internet...
the world is a shared space. and it's a lovely thing!