Having a connectivity scare always makes me think about the place of the internet in my life, and I realized that I feel absolutely entitled to any information I might possibly need being at my fingertips.
Who's that actor and what else have I seen him in? What's up with that 0.1g of trans fat in my cheese? At what time will it start getting humid today? What's up with those cranes at or near Sunnybrook? What is salsa americana and how does it differ from what these Spanish-speaking people on TV define as regular salsa? And is anyone having the same problem with their computer that I'm having? I fully expect to be able to find out all of these things within seconds, in one google and on the first page of results. And if I can't, something's wrong.
Fifteen years ago, this would have been a ridiculous expectation. Now, I can't imagine living any other way.
I wonder if 15 years from now I'll be looking back on today and marvelling at how on earth I managed to get by with so little information.
1 comment:
I feel absolutely entitled to any information I might possibly need being at my fingertips.
I feel the same way, and I think about this all the time.
I used to call people or keep a list and eventually go to the library - or just wonder about things and never know the answer. Now I google everything all the time.
Whole generations of people in our culture will grow up with this expectation. It's interesting.
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