In the Internet We Trust

I was wondering about the direction that the internet is going and the direction of our general population when I had this idea.

I have heard in several places that the internet was introduced to the civilian population and has turned out to be not was originally intended. I have also heard that the internet was developed for specific use in the military and made it's way to the private sector.

However the internet came to be in the public domain is not at question. What is in questions in this thread is where the internet is going now that the public domain uses it as a way of life.

I remember back in '95 when the internet was really blowing up, especially in the private homes. People were scared to purchase things off of the internet like everything on the 'net was a scam. Using the internet as nothing more than a tool for information, much like a very broad library.

Things have obviously changed since then. The internet is used in almost every aspect in our interactive lives. As a whole we trust the internet more and more every passing year. Has there been a master plan about the direction the internet would go and was the devlopment and evolution in the public arena scripted?

Going from a entity that was generally untrusted to, where it is today, trusted and used by generally everyone - including every financial institution and any other working business you can think of - the internet has to have had a game plan put in place long before it's emergence into the private sector.

If this is the case then where is the internet headed. It has to make a revolution to it's ultimate glory. Where is the end? I don't know, but I can definitely feel the internet's effects in my personal life.

A lot of my time at night - 1-3 hrs per night - is spent involved with some device that utilizes the internet. I own my own business and that is where the biggest effect takes place. I use the popular classifieds website Craigslist.com to place ads for my company. I do not use any other form of advertising, other than business cards, and 90% of my business comes from it.

My point is that 15yrs ago most people wouldn't order a piece of chewing gum off the internet and now they are inviting complete strangers into their homes.

We didn't trust this new technology years ago, but now that we are more familiar with it we bring it into our homes and lives and we trust it like a good friend giving us advice.

If we are this trusting in the internet in only 15yrs where are we headed in the next 20?

Do you have any ideas about this?

It would seem that people today are not a sociable as they use to be, they have someone that they chat with everyday and they know them better than their next door neighbor. Shopping on-line is something I have always done as I use to sell quite few items on-line myself during that period, so that part was never a problem for me.

Some people use the web as a way to vent their problems to anyone that will listen, a keyboard commando so to speak. But that is OK, at least they getting their frustrations out without hurting anyone. (Physically anyway)

For me I use it to read some news, exchange jokes, and to keep in touch with the family and friends I care about. Unlike a phone, I don't have to stop anything I am doing to answer it.

Like everything else, it can be used for good as well as evil, depends on how you want to play! If you rely on it for everything, then someone will come in use it against you, that seems to be a standard practice anymore. Sad but true!

Tru

I've been using the Internet since the late 1970's. I've used it ever since for either conducting Research, contacting Peers for information, advice or review, and publishing my Research.

Back in the early 1980's, the Internet was a rather small community and literally everyone knew just about everyone (I think ATS is many times more populous than the Internet was back then). But we had to...as to get hooked into FidoNet or UUCPNet you had to make friends with the SysAdmin of a Node on the Backbone and work with them on a daily basis. Every BBS SysAdmin knew of each other, and it was through those BBS Gateways on FidoNet or UUCPNet that almost everyone was able to connect to the Internet other then through their University (or Employer if you were working with the government or a government contractor like GE).

Then, in January 1994 the first graphical Web Browser was born (NCSA Mosaic 2.0), then later that year AOL offered free 30-day Trial Dial-Up Internet Access, but the real population buster was in 1995 when Time Magazine did a cover article about Free Porn on the Internet. Overnight, the population of the Internet went from 3,500 people (a joke figure, but not far off from the truth) to 35 million people, all looking for that Free Porn which Time Magazine told them about.

And such has defined the nature of the Internet since. It is has metamorphosed from a Research and Communication Tool to a Mass-Media/Entertainment/Advertisers Wet-Dream, with the Porn Industry pioneering the way to that Gravy Train with each new technology.

Do I spend any more time on the Internet as I did back in 1979? Not really.

However, how I spend that time on the Internet has changed. Research is much quicker and easier, even if I do have to verify references and validate citations where before I wouldn't have to do that (and if you've ever used Gopher, or Archie, or Veronica to find data, then you would have a deeper appreciation for Search Engines!). I don't have to spend as much time entering data for other people. It used to be that if I couldn't find a reference work online, I would order it on Inter-library Loan and type it into E-Text and upload it so others could access that reference work after I published my paper. I certainly don't miss typing entire books into E-Text and spending a week proof-reading them for errors! Now, the books I want are either already online, or I can scan them in and upload them as a searchable PDF document within an hour.

Sure, I have a MySpace and Facebook Account (and although I haven't personally met all 5000+ of my "friends" I treat them as real friends and take part in their real-lives and help them out when they are in need). Sure, I have a Blog. Sure, I use Hulu and NetFlix instead of TV and Cable. Sure, I use Instant Messaging (and with an IM Account everywhere, and friends on every IM network, I have to use Pidgin). Sure, I use Skype instead of having a Phone from a Telco. Sure, I shop online. Sure, I look up people I meet and look at their profiles to learn more about them. Sure, I post personal pictures from my vacation to Photobucket and Flickr to share with family and friends (and voyeurs). However, it hasn't really changed my life any other than free up my discretionary income since I don't have to pay for Cable or Phone anymore.

Will the Internet change dramatically and continue to evolve. Of course it will. Everyone is searching for the Killer App. VoIP was one of those. YouTube was another. 10 years from now, let alone 30 years from now, we won't recognize the Internet as it is now from what it will be then.

I think the biggest concern is that the Internet is changing and evolving so quick that we don't have enough time to consider the moral implications of what those changes do. I think we are beginning to feel this most in concerns with Privacy (or lack thereof) on the Internet, and that is but one small example of morality questions in concerns with the ever-changing Internet.

And as for Keyboard Commandos, Nutters, Trolls, and such, let me assure you that they have been on the Internet in the exact same percentages per capita since the late 70's. Spammers are new, but those with a loud voice and strong opinions looking to stir up trouble have always been around. (I think the only thing that has changed per capita wise is that the Internet used to be predominantly blind people back in the late 1970s. That's something you won't find mentioned in Wikipedia or many other articles about the early Internet!) Now, especially since 1994, that the Internet is no longer text-based but graphically based, you don't bump into them as often as you once did.


[edit on 17-8-2009 by fraterormus]

I heard it was the porn industry that actually shaped alot of the internet as we know it today.Anyway,i can't see the internet changing much in the next 5 years or so except everything will be more bandwidth hungry as peoples connections speeds increase.I think we have the technology to update the internet to a more modern style except the speeds are not their for the majority of users to utilize it.Once that catches up i think we will hit a new wave of what we can do on the internet.