Robert Bacal asks some good questions:
> I love the technology. I guess I am reacting to the claims of internet
> evangelists that are making claims that sound to me to go way beyond what
> is reasonable, without having a crystal ball. It is enough, for me that
> the internet provides me with entertainment and learning...whether it will
> transform society (as several people, even on this list, seem to believe)
> is a completely different question. Is the internet the equivalent to the
> printing press in terms of it's impact and effect, or is it closer to the
> ability to listen to books rather than read them? Is it transformational,
> or will it simply be a recapitulation?
The Internet will have more of a evolutionary and revolutionary affect on
our society than the Guttenburg printing press ever did. . .
IF
We can make the technology widely accessible around the globe.
No question it will be (and is) used for entertainment; at Novell we had
to block www.playboy.com because it was decreasing our productivity. .
.just a little too much entertainment!
It doesn't change the fact that it is a powerful network of information.
My 7 year old recently had to write a two page report on his favorite
animal. He chose to write about Cobra's. He logged on to AOL, clicked on
the World Icon, which brought up the Lycos search engine, and he typed
"COBRA" and did a search. He soon found pictures, quicktime videos, and a
lot of really good information. He wrote his report, which concluded, "I
learned this from the Internet. I love the Internet. It is fun and I can
learn."
It was as if he was in India, learning about Cobras! And that's not even
the beginning.
--Benjamin B. Compton bbcompton@aol.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>