Thank God for the Internet!

[Traab]

This part is aimed at the 30+ crowd. Those of us who have had to do research projects both before and after the advent of the internet. Do you kids even comprehend how much easier it is to find the information you are looking for when you can go to google and type in what you want, then 5 seconds later take your pick of a thousand links to learn about it? You could spend HOURS in your school library looking for the right reference materials and finding the part that you needed. There is just no freaking contest. I LOVE the internet!

And thats just scratching the surface! Need a phone number for a doctors office? You can find it online. Need the address? Online. Need directions? Online. Want to know what that word you just read meant? Online. Want to understand the reference that was just made? Online. I cant even count how many times this has happened in the past.

"Chris! I cant find the doctors phone number!"
"Hold on a second." /types in doctors name in google while mom is checking every counter drawer and shelf in the house. "Here it is!"

Replace that with any bit of random information you may need. What would have been a 20 minute search of the house is turned into a 5 second shrug and search online. The best part is trivia solving. "Hey, I like this song but can only remember a few words." /types them in online. "Ah there we go, its enter sandman!" Without the internet you could end up spending days trying to figure it out, desperately trying to sing the words you remember properly hoping someone around you can recognize them and tell you the answer. lol If your google-fu is strong, there isnt anything you cant find the answer for somewhere online.

[Feytalist]

I believe this (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/03/09) is relevant.

'Course, it's only really in recent years that any information you can think of has been stored on the net. Advent of Web 2.0 and all that.

Now, searching for stuff in your native language if only about a handful of people in the world speak it, that's a bit more difficult :smallwink:

[arguskos]

I'm only 23, but I've been forced to do traditional research before, so yeah, I appreciate how much better the internet is. However, there's some stuff you just can't get online or need to have in physical form for whatever reason (for instance, I'm putting together a presentation on Sir Thomas More, and I've been doing traditional library research for some of his works to present on).

[Castaras]

Internet is amazing. Buy things that you wouldn't normally be able to get, and you get to talk to people you woudn't ordinarily meet. It's beautiful. :smallsmile:

[Traab]

Internet is amazing. Buy things that you wouldn't normally be able to get, and you get to talk to people you woudn't ordinarily meet. It's beautiful. :smallsmile:

OOH! I forgot that part! Its only because of the internet that I was able to reassemble my collection of classic ps1 games. No stores anywhere will carry them, not even in a used section or a bargain bin. So the only option is ebay and other related sites! FF6/7, Legend of Legia, Breath of Fire 3, Star Ocean 2, Lunar. All these great games that kick tons of ass but arent sold in stores because they are 12 years old. :p

[Scarlet Knight]

Yes, the internet is amazing, but it is a two edged sword. You can find things quickly, but it not longer has the filter of validation. At least with a book, you knew someone edited it and put money into publishing it. Now , anything can be on the internet, true or false.

I also miss the hospital librarian, who would guide me to the sections I needed, who lost her job because people expect me to do it myself, in between my regular work since computers are so ubiquitous.

I may not need to go to the bank, but my bank account can be hacked from the other side of the globe.

It is change, but not alway progress.

[Aedilred]

I am just about old enough to remember the era before the Internet was in common use. It was still there, but there was nobody (and hence not very much material) on it. Back when we only had one computer in the house and it was nearly ten years old and you had to look everything up in books and write it down with a pen. Truly, it was a more innocent age.

The difference the Internet has made has been so profound that I struggle to recall what it was like before it was there. In fact I struggle to remember what the world was like before Wikipedia. Facebook I find has changed things less profoundly; it's just taken stuff that people were doing already and put them all in the same place (and does almost all of them rather less well).

[WalkingTarget]

This part is aimed at the 30+ crowd. Those of us who have had to do research projects both before and after the advent of the internet. Do you kids even comprehend how much easier it is to find the information you are looking for when you can go to google and type in what you want, then 5 seconds later take your pick of a thousand links to learn about it? You could spend HOURS in your school library looking for the right reference materials and finding the part that you needed. There is just no freaking contest. I LOVE the internet!

Of course, Google isn't the last word in searching for stuff.

Even with Google Scholar, doing a proper research project won't be nearly as comprehensive as using a dedicated article database will be. Getting "a thousand links" is pretty useless if they're all unvetted, biased, and/or commercial. The internet is still pretty awesome as most journals have online versions of their articles these days, so you don't have to actually go find the physical copy on a shelf in a library and finding the articles is much easier since you don't have to look through a card catalog or article index by hand (let alone wait for a librarian to update such things) anymore.

Just don't assume that because you're well-versed in Google-fu that you're automatically good at research. Studies have been done; the digital generation is just as bad at it as everybody else.

That being said - for any number of personal-interest, informal, trivial, pop-cultural, or other kinds of information seeking: yeah, the internet is pretty amazing.


You could spend HOURS in your school library looking for the right reference materials and finding the part that you needed.

Repeating this part of the above quote to pick it out in particular: Instead of spending "HOURS" in the library on your own you could probably just ask a reference librarian. Most libraries above the high-school level have somebody in that role and that's what they're there for - somebody to help you find information, you're not bothering them or wasting their time by asking a question. Chances are they can tell you exactly where to look or, at the very least, give you a good starting point.

[thubby]

i still remember hand writing book reports.
jeeze that makes me feel old. and im 22 :smalleek:



Now, searching for stuff in your native language if only about a handful of people in the world speak it, that's a bit more difficult :smallwink:

as true as this is, it also means that you can always find someone who can read what you're trying to communicate if you're in a developed area. (this actually saved my uncle's butt >.<)

[shawnhcorey]

Yes but with the world at their fingertips, people are losing the ability to remember things. What did we do before the internet? We used our memory. And without a good memory, people can't think. They can't put two and two together because they can no longer remember they had two two's.

[Feytalist]

There do exist online databases of academic journals and published theses (wow that plural just looks weird), all of which are vetted and guaranteed to be thoroughly researched. It's not quite as open to the general public as most of the rest of the internet, and getting access to them is slightly difficult, but they do make it much easier for any sort of academic research. I only ever used online economic journals for my research, but I do know science and medical databases exist.

Of course, we accessed it through our university library databases, which kind of specialised in that. But it is possible.

[WalkingTarget]

Yes but with the world at their fingertips, people are losing the ability to remember things. What did we do before the internet? We used our memory. And without a good memory, people can't think. They can't put two and two together because they can no longer remember they had two two's.

Did you know that Socrates distrusted writing stuff down because he felt that it made people lazy in that they no longer had to remember it?

[Arminius]

Yes but with the world at their fingertips, people are losing the ability to remember things. What did we do before the internet? We used our memory. And without a good memory, people can't think. They can't put two and two together because they can no longer remember they had two two's.
I'm not so sure this is destroying the ability to think. This is admittedly my own experience, so I can't say how prevalent it truly is. I was raised in a rather religious family, and was homeschooled for most of my life. A more blunt way of putting it is that I was indoctrinated, with no alternative ways of looking at the world given. I arrived at college with no way of processing information other than memorizing and regurgitating what I was told. I was a barely a step above a parrot, not a thinking human being. The internet was what really started me thinking. I learned of ideas and views I had never even thought of, or had been simply told were wrong, with either no justification, or what I later learned was a misrepresentation of said ideas. I started reading forum posts and saw youtube videos of people who had different opinions from mine, and whats more, actually had serious, thought out reasons for them. These last few years have been largely miserable for me, because it is not pleasant to have your core beliefs thrown into serious doubt. I have come to believe many of those doubts were justified. Just by the nature of where I live, there is a good chance I could have gone through most or all of my life without ever discovering this.

Yes, the internet is a considerable conduit for stupidity, and there are certain things(goatse for instance) that I could have done without seeing. Even so, the internet is what tore off the blinders I wore for most of my life. It is responsible for forcing me to think critically about things for the first time in my life. Once again, this is anecdotal evidence, and I have only my own experience to go by, so I don't know the overall trend. But the internet is the main reason I ever started to really think.

[Asta Kask]

We also have to thank the Internet for all the naked ladies you can find on it.

And naked gentlemen, for those who prefer that.

ETA: Corrected at Birchgrove's suggestion

[Zigg'rrauglurr]

Yes but with the world at their fingertips, people are losing the ability to remember things. What did we do before the internet? We used our memory. And without a good memory, people can't think. They can't put two and two together because they can no longer remember they had two two's.


Did you know that Socrates distrusted writing stuff down because he felt that it made people lazy in that they no longer had to remember it?

This reminds me of a little thing I read some time ago My brain is on google (http://www.memphisflyer.com/TheBruceVBlog/archives/2009/12/09/google-is-my-brain). Basically, we are accustoming our brains to remember key data in order to easily search for it. Only remember the name or general description of something, then google it.
Thanks the Great Mother i've been blessed with exceptionally good memory (how I wish it was eidetic memory...) and now thanks to this new form of knowledge recollection I'm able to "know" a lot more, to the point I amaze those close to me, because I always have enough knowledge of any topic to lead a conversation and if needed direct a google binge that deals the needed info in 5 minutes top. I seriously believe that technology will improve our minds ala Borg... (creepy)

More in touch with the OP, I constantly notice and acknowlege all the fantastic technological breakthroughs we enjoy every day, and compare it to previous generations.

Easily accesible potable water, Easily accesible HOT potable water, Instant Coffee, Instant/fresh milk, Instant/easily heated meals.

I pour two kinds of "magic" powder, add water, put into the microwave for a minute, Instant breakfast!
My mother made me coffee with milk (It's Cafe con Leche dammit, not "latte"), brewing coffee by boiling water on the stove, and heated milk on the stove too. Her mother had to actually take the milk from a cow (they lived on a farm). Progress is GREAT, and we have to be grateful for the advantages it gives us, all the time we save... Time we later waste in Facebook, 9gag or ... Forums... :smalltongue:

My 99 cents (a lot more than 2)

[Scarlet Knight]

Our power went out due to the recent snow storm. It was heart warming to see my daughter with my dictionary in her hand doing her homework.
:smallsmile:

Funny how you speak of convenience, as a recent Times article spoke of people becoming the "slaves" of convenient programs.

Once we employed people to do things such as make coffee at work, then we were supposed to make our own, because it was so easy. Now we make our own, pay for the previously "free" coffee, and the cafeteria staff is out of work. So essentually we still do our work & that of the old workers. All because of convenience.

[Asta Kask]

Instant Coffee

Hmm... can I buy that in a bag? Just add water?

...

No, I don't need a lovable, somewhat neurotic genki girl at home.

[smellie_hippie]

The question is (for all the 30+ crowd... and maybe some others too):

How often do you freshen up on skills that do NOT require the internet but have become phenominally easier becasue of it?

Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?

How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?

Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?

I may be guilty of some of these things, but at the same time I think it's important to keep up the skills that used to be 'necessary' to navigate through life.

[THAC0]

The question is (for all the 30+ crowd... and maybe some others too):

How often do you freshen up on skills that do NOT require the internet but have become phenominally easier becasue of it?

Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?

How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?

Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?

I may be guilty of some of these things, but at the same time I think it's important to keep up the skills that used to be 'necessary' to navigate through life.

We don't have maps in the car but regularly use topo maps as we do a lot of hiking and backpacking. E-readers are great, but we certainly didn't throw out all of our real books. As for shopping, I never enjoyed haggling or bartering or anything, so internet win on that front.

[H Birchgrove]

Don't thank God, thank the scientists working for DARPA and CERN.


Yes but with the world at their fingertips, people are losing the ability to remember things. What did we do before the internet? We used our memory. And without a good memory, people can't think. They can't put two and two together because they can no longer remember they had two two's.

Yeah, and pocket calculators have made us unable to count. :smallamused:


We also have to thank the Internet for all the naked ladies you can find on it.

And naked gentlemen, for those who prefer that.

Corrected. :smallannoyed:

[Asta Kask]

Corrected. :smallannoyed:

I have corrected my post.

[shawnhcorey]

Did you know that Socrates distrusted writing stuff down because he felt that it made people lazy in that they no longer had to remember it?


Yeah, and pocket calculators have made us unable to count. :smallamused:

OK, I take it all back. Most people can't think because they're stupid, not because they rely too much on technology.

[Keld Denar]

http://www.avenueqgoods.com/view/download/id/407/name/09_09.2-017714.jpg
THE INTERNET IS FOR PORN!

j/k

But not really.

Anyway...I was listening to talk radio (what is is there to do in Alaska?) and I was listening to a gentleman by the name of Dennis Praeger. He was asserting that google is actually a marital aide. He would often argue with his wife for HOURS about something (So-and-so was in such-and-such movie! No he wasn't! That song was Genesis! No, it was Phil Collins solo work! etc), and those arguements would often escalate because neither side would budge. Now, he just logs onto IMDB or wikipedia and gets the facts. And other similar examples. When I'm out with my friends, someone will say something, and nearly everyone at the table sets their beer down, grabs their smart phone, and googles the heck out of it. No point in arguing about pointless details when you can look them up. That leaves more time for awkward silences!

[H Birchgrove]

I have corrected my post.

Thank you. :smallsmile:

[Traab]

The question is (for all the 30+ crowd... and maybe some others too):

How often do you freshen up on skills that do NOT require the internet but have become phenominally easier becasue of it?

Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?

How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?

Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?

I may be guilty of some of these things, but at the same time I think it's important to keep up the skills that used to be 'necessary' to navigate through life.

Never haggled, I suck at it. And ive never cared much about my books. I dog ear the pages, and rest them face down while open. And considering how often I reread my books, im frankly stunned I havent had to replace more than a couple. I dont read for the smell of the books, so that isnt a factor. Of course, I dont have an e-reader either, but I do spend most of my time reading fanfiction online.

[arguskos]

How often do you freshen up on skills that do NOT require the internet but have become phenominally easier becasue of it?
Constantly. As a note, I'm 23.


Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?
I have two maps in my car. One with fine detail for my area and one more general road map atlas thingy.


How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?
I only read physical books and always use bookmarks if possible (I never, ever, under any circumstances, place the book facedown). The feel and smell of real paper is too good to pass up.


Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?
Oh man haggling I love you so much auuuugh.


I may be guilty of some of these things, but at the same time I think it's important to keep up the skills that used to be 'necessary' to navigate through life.
Absolutely. Tech is good, but the classic skills are classic for a reason. :smallwink:

[Zigg'rrauglurr]

Hmm... can I buy that in a bag? Just add water?

...

No, I don't need a lovable, somewhat neurotic genki girl at home.

So much fun on that post :smallbiggrin: (Now I mentally pictured Cofee_Included's avatar in a instantaneous coffee jar label)



The question is (for all the 30+ crowd... and maybe some others too):

How often do you freshen up on skills that do NOT require the internet but have become phenominally easier becasue of it?

Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?

How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?

Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?

I may be guilty of some of these things, but at the same time I think it's important to keep up the skills that used to be 'necessary' to navigate through life.

I'm perfectly capable of orienting myself without the use of a GPS or similar and I love paper maps.

I always take my real books and magazines to the bed/sofa/bathroom.

My GF drags me once every 2 weekends to a huge flea market that gathers at one of the most important parks in the city Parque Centenario (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Parque+Centenario+-+Avenida+D%C3%ADaz+V%C3%A9lez,+Buenos+Aires,+Capit al+Federal,+Argentina&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=60.158465,135.263672&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq=Parque+Centenario+-+Avenida+D%C3%ADaz+V%C3%A9lez,&hnear=Buenos+Aires,+Capital+Federal,+Argentina&ll=-34.606447,-58.433661&spn=0.007762,0.016512&t=m&z=17&iwloc=A&cid=4012603477781973265), the flea market surrounds the whole park!

We also use the GPS on my Android phone, love to read online or digitally and we buy from Chine wholesalers, and we also resale (wedding dresses mostly). So I seriously believe that both world can coexist.

[Castaras]

Do you use your iPhone to navigate, or can you still read a map? More importantly, do you even HAVE a map in your car? How about a topographical map if you were to go hiking?
We don't have GPS. We map read.


How about those with e-readers... do you miss the texture and smell of a new book? Do you worry about the spine on your well-read version of The Hobbit, and make sure to use a bookmark as opposed to laying it facedown?

Don't have an e-reader, don't want one. Books just... feel right. If I can get an e reader that is exactly like a book - except it can be more than one - then maybe I'd get one. But there's something about books that feel right, and e-readers feel wrong.


Shopping inline, or do you enjoy the haggle of a flea-market? Maybe even the barter system of traded goods and services?
Was never good at haggling, but I regularly wander around the market and town for interesting shops.

[/18 year old PoV]

[Shadow of the Sun]

As a 19 year old who's been on the net since he was 12, I personally LOVE flea markets and farmer's markets. There's an atmosphere there that the internet can't provide.

That said, I do consider myself blessed for having access to online journal databases via my university. I could research via ye olde time methods of looking through journal abstracts (and might just for fun!), but the ability to quickly browse, online, a whole bunch of different articles is a godsend.

Oh, and I'll agree with Cassie: e-readers just feel wrong. Also, books are greener.

[Knaight]

This part is aimed at the 30+ crowd. Those of us who have had to do research projects both before and after the advent of the internet. Do you kids even comprehend how much easier it is to find the information you are looking for when you can go to google and type in what you want, then 5 seconds later take your pick of a thousand links to learn about it? You could spend HOURS in your school library looking for the right reference materials and finding the part that you needed. There is just no freaking contest. I LOVE the internet!
I prefer scholarly databases, but books are ideal. If there is serious research to be done, I'm in either a library or a laboratory. Possibly both in the course of one matter. Granted, wikipedia binging for surface knowledge is fun and somewhat useful, and the ability to quickly double check simple things (formulae mostly) is as well, but how much the internet helps has been exaggerated - or rather, a particular way in which it helps has been exaggerated, and others ignored. Being able to set up an inter library loan online and similar is quite valuable.


And thats just scratching the surface! Need a phone number for a doctors office? You can find it online. Need the address? Online. Need directions? Online. Want to know what that word you just read meant? Online. Want to understand the reference that was just made? Online.
This, on the other hand, is immensely convenient.


Replace that with any bit of random information you may need. What would have been a 20 minute search of the house is turned into a 5 second shrug and search online. The best part is trivia solving. "Hey, I like this song but can only remember a few words." /types them in online. "Ah there we go, its enter sandman!" Without the internet you could end up spending days trying to figure it out, desperately trying to sing the words you remember properly hoping someone around you can recognize them and tell you the answer. lol If your google-fu is strong, there isnt anything you cant find the answer for somewhere online.
As with the second response, this is convenient.

[Fri]

Internet is the technology of our civilization. I often imagine about alternate universes where instead of internet, humanity develop fusion battery or flying car with antigravity or something, but no internet.

[dehro]

hell yeah... I'm 33
I remember the times when my father bought his first computer and spent a crapload of money to do so, and an equal ammount of money for his secretary to take classes on how to turn it on and off, and lear to write on it..because back then it was mostly a glorified writing machine.
I remember when the height of my involvement with computer technology was to play space invaders, arkanoid and frogger.
I remember the first viruses who were actually fun to watch...one in particular displayed a little ambulance chased by to small men carrying a stretcher, and would criss-cross all over your screen..which was in 16 colours officially but actually only displayed about 3-4 at a time...and that other virus which displayed a tennisball zooming on your screen and deleting letters randomly
...and whatever damage they really did to your computer, visual representation aside, wasn't a big deal because your life wasn't stored on it.
hell..even viruses were of better quality back then... what's up with that!
I remember the tetris craze when it exploded..and pacman available for the first time at home without having to go to the arcade to play it.

and the researches..well..those came in handy a lot later, but couldn't have come too soon. god knows I've spent too many hours bent over books in libraries..and I may have been guilty of cutting out images that I needed for a project from other sources beyond magazines and newspapers...:smallredface:

[Heliomance]

eReaders are convenient because you can have a library in your pocket, but I agree, there really is nothing to match a real book. I have some books on my iTouch, so I can read them when I'm out and about, but any book I really care about I'll get in dead tree format.

[dehro]

eReaders are convenient because you can have a library in your pocket, but I agree, there really is nothing to match a real book. I have some books on my iTouch, so I can read them when I'm out and about, but any book I really care about I'll get in dead tree format.

this.
I'm not sold on the ereading yet, but I know I'll get there, simply because I want to own and read way more books than I can afford or have storage room for.
that said, nothing beats turning actual pages on gradually aging paper, the scent of it, the sensation that you need to be careful because paperbacks will fall apart if you treat them roughly.. the dead weight of entertainment bringing down your maximum weight allowance on airplanes.. (which sucks, but as of now, I'd not have it any other way...yet).

one day I'll have a proper library/reading room with lines upon lines of libraries stacked with the many books I own (most of which are now in storage boxes), many more I will own by then,.. and a little shrine with a kindle containing e-copies of those books and of the whole of human literary production.
.. and I'll sit there ruling the world from the comfort of a chair, sipping applejuice and leafing through an insta-print of whatever book I'll be wanting to read

[thubby]

also, theres nothing quite like having a shelf full of books. *looks over at collection*
yeah, feels good.

[Heliomance]

I would dearly love to someday have a proper private library; that would be amazing. It'll never happen, though.

[Traab]

My goal is to top 1k books, right now counting comic collections, (i love dilbert and garfield) im at a solid 500+. My dream is to be rich and afford to have a house built with its own library room. One thats floor to ceiling books and I have one of those rolling ladders to reach whatever im after.

[dehro]

My goal is to top 1k books, right now counting comic collections, (i love dilbert and garfield) im at a solid 500+. My dream is to be rich and afford to have a house built with its own library room. One thats floor to ceiling books and I have one of those rolling ladders to reach whatever im after.

you have got to think big... the rolling ladder should be jet-propelled.

[Traab]

you have got to think big... the rolling ladder should be jet-propelled.

Well my dream house is a stereotypical castle with curtain walls, fort, moat, and bailey. Dont want to ruin that with jets.

[H Birchgrove]

Internet is the technology of our civilization. I often imagine about alternate universes where instead of internet, humanity develop fusion battery or flying car with antigravity or something, but no internet.

Sigh. Why this constant belief in zero–sum games?

You want to imagine jet packs and Lunar Cities? Imagine away a few wars post WWII and various economical setbacks...


Well my dream house is a stereotypical castle with curtain walls, fort, moat, and bailey. Dont want to ruin that with jets.

Not even flame-throwers? Or flak towers?

[Serpentine]

Yes, the internet is amazing, but it is a two edged sword. You can find things quickly, but it not longer has the filter of validation. At least with a book, you knew someone edited it and put money into publishing it. Now , anything can be on the internet, true or false.I don't want to blow your mind, but anyone can get published. I know, right?! Don't believe me? Just go read Van Daniken's The Chariots of the Gods.
Really, the internet has the same problems as any other sort of research tool: to use it properly, you need to know what to look for, and what to look out for, and how to examine the information given critically. Check references, track down primary sources, cross-referencing... They're all skills that someone doing research needs to know. Full stop. No matter whether they're using a library or the internet. Education on this score, and critical thinking in general, really needs to be stepped up.
As someone who's had to write well-referenced essays on a huge array of subjects from the "most important" figure in the history of scientific knowledge through the alternative explanations for the building of the pyramids to the reasons for the Viking invasions, Google Scholar is one of the best inventions of the modern era. <3 it so very much.
As someone who talks to dozens of people on a regular basis whom she never even would have known existed previously, and indeed who is going to stay with one of them for an extended period of time and has a number of people all across the world with whom she has an offer of a couch if needed, the internet is amazing.

Also: Relevant (http://imgur.com/Cpdaq).

[Traab]

Sigh. Why this constant belief in zero–sum games?

You want to imagine jet packs and Lunar Cities? Imagine away a few wars post WWII and various economical setbacks...



Not even flame-throwers? Or flak towers?

I have murder holes in the wall above the gate for pouring boiling oil and molten lead on people trying to break in, thats good enough for me. Well, people trying to break in and jehovahs witnesses.

[H Birchgrove]

I have murder holes in the wall above the gate for pouring boiling oil and molten lead on people trying to break in, thats good enough for me. Well, people trying to break in and jehovahs witnesses.

:smallbiggrin: I'd be happy to have something like Wayne Manor or Moulinsart (Marlinspike). :smallsmile: With a butler or valet who is a former commando and who can handle a shot gun. :smallwink:

[Traab]

Sebastian Michaelis is my butler. He gets to keep the souls of any aluminum siding sellers who try to knock on my gate.

[H Birchgrove]

I would be happy enough to get Alfred Pennyworth or Jonathan Higgins. :smallbiggrin: They could feed the dogs with long pig.

[happyturtle]

I'm 39. Crazy things I remember:
My touch-typing class had electric typewriters, along with a handful of manual typewriters we were expected to practice on occasionally because they were still in use in some offices. There was one computer in the back of the class: an Apple IIe with Bank Street Writer on it. Even as a twelve year old who thought technology was amazing, I knew BSW sucked.

I remember when, if you missed a movie in the theatre, you had to wait till eventually, one day, the censored version would be shown on television.

Then I remember when VCRs became cheap enough for mortals to own, and movies were available for rental. Forget buying a video though. They were priced for the rental market, and not cheap enough for consumers to buy.

I kept a phone book in the trunk of my car in case I needed to find a number when I was out. Then, of course, I'd need to find a pay phone. Getting stranded somewhere really sucked without the ability to just phone for a tow-truck. There were several times when I simply hiked along the interstate to the nearest exit. I look back now and think 'Holy boop! what a stupidly dangerous thing to do!'

The first attempts were made to index the internet by creating a database of sites that were manually compiled by volunteers.


I know some people are still attracted to the old over the new, but I'm totally all for the new. None of the innovations that I've seen mentioned so far in this thread are bad in my opinion. The smell of paper to me means dust and mildew. The physical weight of books is unpleasant. I don't at all miss going out and looking for things that I want to purchase. A GPS is a much safer way to get around than trying to read a map while driving, and it's nice to just turn when it says to turn, rather than looking for a street sign while people behind you get irritated because you slow down at every junction.

Yes, we'll lose skills that people used to have. So what? Few of us know how to shear a sheep, spin the wool into thread, weave the threads into fabric, and sew the fabric into clothing. Leisure used to be unknown because the entire lifespan of a person was spent simply procuring the necessaries of life. Technological progress has steadily improved the quality of human life from generation to generation.

There is no Golden Age. In all of human history, this is the best of all possible times. And tomorrow will only be better. :smallsmile:

[Asta Kask]

I'm 39. Crazy things I remember:
My touch-typing class had electric typewriters, along with a handful of manual typewriters we were expected to practice on occasionally because they were still in use in some offices. There was one computer in the back of the class: an Apple IIe with Bank Street Writer on it. Even as a twelve year old who thought technology was amazing, I knew BSW sucked.

We used Word Perfect. I always wanted to upgrade to Word Pluperfect, but it never happened.

[Traab]

I do miss telephone booths and such though. Sometimes cell phones get forgotten, or have no service, or a dead battery.

[H Birchgrove]

I do miss telephone booths and such though. Sometimes cell phones get forgotten, or have no service, or a dead battery.

Not to mention the lack of places were super-heroes can change their cloths...

:smallwink:

[The_Snark]

Not to mention the lack of places were super-heroes can change their cloths...

:smallwink:

Didn't you know? There's an iPhone app that'll change your clothes for you (and remove your glasses) with just a press of a button. True fact*!

*Not actually a true fact

[H Birchgrove]

:smallbiggrin: Yay for progress!

[Feytalist]

I guess I'm one of those book-worshiping freaks. I get chills right down to the bone whenever I see someone folding pages in a book, or (even worse) writing in them (:smallfurious:). I also assert that there is nothing better than that old book smell. I love second hand bookstores. Even those ratty old paperbacks. Love every little bit of it. Also, take care of your books' spines, if only for my own sanity.

So yeah, I dislike online reading. Or e-readers. Books just feel nicer. Ironically, though, my e-library is probably bigger than my actual book collection. Sometimes you just can't get the real books anywhere.

As for GPS though, I'm all for that. I once saw this GPS advert: "The trouble with maps are, they don't know where you are." Heh.

[Serpentine]

I'm skeptical about the joys of book-smelling, after being stuck in a library on the Gold Coast at the height of summer during a total black-out :smallyuk:

[dehro]

I'm skeptical about the joys of book-smelling, after being stuck in a library on the Gold Coast at the height of summer during a total black-out :smallyuk:

clearly the wrong kind of books

[Feytalist]

I'm skeptical about the joys of book-smelling, after being stuck in a library on the Gold Coast at the height of summer during a total black-out :smallyuk:

Musty and stuffy, yes?

Heaven :smallbiggrin:

Terry Pratchett once described this kind of bibliophile who goes around in slippers and gloves with the fingers cut out of all day. Yeah, that's probably gonna be me someday :smalltongue:

[Serpentine]

clearly the wrong kind of booksUh... All kinds of books? :smallconfused:
I can't remember exactly what it smelled like, just that it was gross.

[Heliomance]

I guess I'm one of those book-worshiping freaks. I get chills right down to the bone whenever I see someone folding pages in a book, or (even worse) writing in them (:smallfurious:). I also assert that there is nothing better than that old book smell. I love second hand bookstores. Even those ratty old paperbacks. Love every little bit of it. Also, take care of your books' spines, if only for my own sanity.


When I was younger, my sister tore a corner off a page of one of my books in revenge for something I'd done. I went absolutely berserk. You don't treat books like that!

[Runestar]

So I am not weird, in that first thing I did when the new teachers' guides that I ordered for my school arrived was to smell them? I always and still love that smell of freshly printed books. :smalltongue:

Oh another thing, till today, I still prefer to do my sums mentally (or at least work it out manually on paper), rather than use a calculator unless it is for really technical stuff (like finding radian of something). I just love working out the total while waiting in line and then handing over that exact amount to the cashier in a supermarket. :smallbiggrin:

There are just some cheap thrills that technology can never take away. :smallwink:

[dehro]

I've always been crap at maths, during my entire education.. except for two years when I had an ecceptional teacher who really knew his stuff and was capable of explaining it even to me.
one of the lesser talented teachers however said something once that I still remember every day and have to agree with.
everybody is a math genius when money is involved.
it's stupid..but true... I've been known to calculate percentages, dividends and to do divisions on the fly, in my head..yet I still get stuck with the most silly calculations when I'm just talking abstract numbers.

[death pig]

I LOVE THE INTERNET!:smalltongue:

[Dark Elf Bard]

I LOVE THE INTERNET!:smalltongue:

Me too... Who doesn't?

[death pig]

http://www.avenueqgoods.com/view/download/id/407/name/09_09.2-017714.jpg
THE INTERNET IS FOR PORN!

j/k

But not really.

Anyway...I was listening to talk radio (what is is there to do in Alaska?) and I was listening to a gentleman by the name of Dennis Praeger. He was asserting that google is actually a marital aide. He would often argue with his wife for HOURS about something (So-and-so was in such-and-such movie! No he wasn't! That song was Genesis! No, it was Phil Collins solo work! etc), and those arguements would often escalate because neither side would budge. Now, he just logs onto IMDB or wikipedia and gets the facts. And other similar examples. When I'm out with my friends, someone will say something, and nearly everyone at the table sets their beer down, grabs their smart phone, and googles the heck out of it. No point in arguing about pointless details when you can look them up. That leaves more time for awkward silences!

YES IT IS!:smallsmile: