07-29-2004, 04:22 PM
Hi,
I hadn't even mentioned e-mail in my original post. But in many ways it is the epitome of what went wrong with the net. e-mail was the first "killer ap" on the Internet back before the WWW was even a gleam in CERN's eye. A simple application that permitted one user to send a *text* file to another. It had the speed (almost, especially if neither end was on BITNET) of a chat program and the convenience of regular mail. The epitome of technology gone good.
Now, thanks to idiots of all stripes, it is the epitome of technology gone bad. Partially this is due to the jackasses (mostly Microsoft) who will not leave well enough alone. A text message is innocuous, it cannot harm you. But the "if it can be done it should be done" fools added the ability to send messages in all sorts of ways that permits the spread of viruses.
The next class of idiots are the people who use a free service for their personal profit, the spammers. These are well supported by the "liberal intellectual" (i.e., clueless ivory tower residents with plate glass navels) who drone on about "freedoms" with never a clue about "responsibilities". They have a great view of society, from the outside, while living on the tax dollars of the useful.
And the final class of idiots are the users, who feel it necessary yo avoid any form of thinking. Who find it necessary to open every piece of junk that ends up in their inbox. And who need to forward everything to at least a dozen of their peers (i.e., fellow unicellular organisms) in the off chance that someone they know hasn't seen a hundred copies of the latest joke, warning or scam.
Even the "professional societies" are in on the act. Where most were satisfied by putting out a newsletter about once a month, hardly a day passes that I don't get a few e-mails from these organizations. Almost all of it is of no interest to me (or to any other sentient being). But because there is the occasional nugget of useful information and there is no longer any other way to get said information, I have to allow the flow of trivial to continue.
The combination of anonymity and no-cost have led to the ruin of a once useful service. The tragedy of the commons without even the opprobrium of your neighbors.
Yes, I only addressed the problems with the web, that being the most "visible" part of the Internet. But all parts of it (with the exception, maybe, of ftp) are well on their way down the toilet.
--Pete
I hadn't even mentioned e-mail in my original post. But in many ways it is the epitome of what went wrong with the net. e-mail was the first "killer ap" on the Internet back before the WWW was even a gleam in CERN's eye. A simple application that permitted one user to send a *text* file to another. It had the speed (almost, especially if neither end was on BITNET) of a chat program and the convenience of regular mail. The epitome of technology gone good.
Now, thanks to idiots of all stripes, it is the epitome of technology gone bad. Partially this is due to the jackasses (mostly Microsoft) who will not leave well enough alone. A text message is innocuous, it cannot harm you. But the "if it can be done it should be done" fools added the ability to send messages in all sorts of ways that permits the spread of viruses.
The next class of idiots are the people who use a free service for their personal profit, the spammers. These are well supported by the "liberal intellectual" (i.e., clueless ivory tower residents with plate glass navels) who drone on about "freedoms" with never a clue about "responsibilities". They have a great view of society, from the outside, while living on the tax dollars of the useful.
And the final class of idiots are the users, who feel it necessary yo avoid any form of thinking. Who find it necessary to open every piece of junk that ends up in their inbox. And who need to forward everything to at least a dozen of their peers (i.e., fellow unicellular organisms) in the off chance that someone they know hasn't seen a hundred copies of the latest joke, warning or scam.
Even the "professional societies" are in on the act. Where most were satisfied by putting out a newsletter about once a month, hardly a day passes that I don't get a few e-mails from these organizations. Almost all of it is of no interest to me (or to any other sentient being). But because there is the occasional nugget of useful information and there is no longer any other way to get said information, I have to allow the flow of trivial to continue.
The combination of anonymity and no-cost have led to the ruin of a once useful service. The tragedy of the commons without even the opprobrium of your neighbors.
Yes, I only addressed the problems with the web, that being the most "visible" part of the Internet. But all parts of it (with the exception, maybe, of ftp) are well on their way down the toilet.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?