Thoughts to ponder

This week in class we were discussing David Scott's book, Real Time Marketing and PR. In Chapter 16 he makes an analogy that the web is just like a huge town square. It's a place to gather, to share information, to meet new people and to trade. I think this analogy really puts the web into perspective.

I sat in my living room this weekend and found myself just thinking about life before the web. Now, when I was growing up I lived on an old farm. We didn't even have a computer until I was at least nine years old. It's sad, but I really can't remember a time when I had to write a paper without being able to use the Internet.

Since I can remember I've always been able to connect with people I never would have met if it were not for the Internet. For papers in particularly, I do not know what I would do without the web to help me search for sources. Yes, I know how to use the library, but typing in keywords to a search engine is so much easier!

Going along with the analogy though, if our generation has a hard time imagining a world without the Internet, what is going to happen to the next generation? Are they going to lose communication skills? Will they all become socially awkward because they don't know how to act in person? This thought troubles me since the Internet is the new kind of town square and people rarely use town squares anymore.

Recently, there is a new show called Revolution on TV where the story line of the show is that all the power in the world stops working and people are forced to fend for themselves. Yes, the concept is unlikely, but just think what if it could actually happen? What if it actually did? It sounds crazy, but just think about it.

If something ever happened to the Internet would the next generation, or the generation after them, know what to do? Or would they just turn into barbarians? So weird to think about. Implausible, yes, but interesting to contemplate.