On Obtaining Information Pre-Internet Style

How did we get information prior to having the Internet? And what are the implications of having instant access to information no matter where we are, or what we're doing? It seems that our "progress" has increased dramatically since the advent of the Internet and the improvement of search technologies such as Google.

Google Instant is an even greater improvement on the time it takes to access information.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• yt:crop=16:9
• Information
• Internet
• Library
• Libraries
• Technology
• Search
• Search Engine
• Google
• Google Instant
• Progress
• Innovation
• Help
• Altruism
• Mankind
• Humans

[Fiara]

It's great that we have access to all this information now, but so many people just don't look things up at all, not even things that don't matter to them very much, let alone things that would improve the quality of their lives. Sometimes I see people comment on music videos asking for the lyrics when they can just google them themselves. There's "just google it", and then there's "just /fucking/ google it". Maybe people don't realize (yet?) just how much the internet can do for them.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@Fiara

If the YouTube community is any reflection of the nation, or humanity, as a whole, it seems pretty clear to me that the average person is not very intelligent. I think that, in a sense, being intelligent is a curse when one is surrounded by mediocrity. You're constantly being let down by the inane, base stupidity of a large majority of people. Like you said, people ask questions which they could easily answer for themselves if they even put a modicum of thought into it.

[pgm98387]

Yeah when I was in grade school we had card catalogs, periodical indexes. Just browse the shelfs grab a handful of books escape into reading at a corner table. Spend hours and hours reading thru magazine articles.

Libraries were a regular hang out for me. Now I just stay at home on the net mostly.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@pgm98387

I'm wondering if this is good or bad? I tend to think that this ease of acquiring information feeds into our need for instant gratification. I'm also wondering what would happen if we all of a sudden didn't have this instant access to information?

Have we become dependent upon instant information? To be honest, I don't know many people's phone numbers. They're all in my cell phone, and I just click on the name, and the number is dialed for me. It's kinda scary to think about!

[KenChamberlain]

Interesting. Yes, the internet has certainly made the possession of a set of encyclopedias unnessesary! All sorts of information is now easy to get. I use to have to look at a map to find out how to get somewhere, now I can just type or speak my destination into my Droid, and it will talk to me, and guide me turn by turn, to my destination!

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@KenChamberlain

It really is amazing how much information there is out there, and how devices like phones have come so far in terms of delivering that information to us in a useful manner - like the GPS devices you're talking about.

[CaptainNemoful1]

>Books, >But now it's computers. HOW RIGHT YOU ARE DAVID IN THIS VIDEO.

Great video's David, Keep Up the great job here!!!!

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@gratex

I suppose you're right. But, I'm sure there's someplace on the Internet where someone has figured out a way to get things done without trucks. lol Problem solved... probably.

[gratex]

you still need trucks to get stuff done ^^ ;)