To Hell With You And To Hell With The Internet!

[HOCP4ME]

Contrary to popular thought, I find that the Internet is best for finding objective facts, while books are better for opinions and reflections.

The Internet cannot be touched when it comes to fact-finding. Looking up a fact on Wikipedia, a statistic on Wolfram Alpha, or a word at dictionary.com is exponentially faster than locating the same information in a library. Moreover, many facts are not considered important enough for someone to put them in a book.

Also, modern society moves way too fast for books to be used as reference - especially the fields of geography and technology. Books of factual knowledge almost aren't worth printing anymore due to the speed at which they become outdated. Any book about a political conflict will end up referencing a country that doesn't exist within a few years, and a book about computer will probably be obsolete in a matter of months. You just can't find up-to-date information in books like you can on the Internet.

Yes, there are a lot of lies on the Internet, but the good news is, most Internet liars aren't very good at it; detecting a bias in a Wikipedia article is fairly easy, for example. Easier, at least, then trying to find something in a library.

On the other hand, if you want to hear expert opinions or reflections of history or philosophy, the Internet sucks. Most of the opinions expressed on it are ridiculously immature and uninformed. When is the last time you saw someone back up their online argument with facts? Books are best here; they are usually written by respectable authors who make solid, intelligent arguments and will not fail to put their money where their mouth is.

So yeah, keep the F/A-18 flight characteristics on the Internet and the reflections on Hitler's motives in books.

 

[Manaknight]

IMO, that shit will more or less even out with time. You seem to forget how new this all really is.

The internet still plays a very important role in the distribution and increased availability of information, however. Not having your book on the internet makes you worse off as the distribution and audience is vastly limited.

I agree. For a lot of us the internet is old hat, so yes the ad insanity and such we find trite and annoying. How many people do you know still get suckered in by flashy flash banners and pretty colors.

We take it for granted because as tech oriented people we have had the internet for almost 20 years now (longer if you talk bbs and such). We all know someone who is still on dial up or is newly excited because they have the internet at home for the first time in the past year or two.

It will even out given enough time. But right now it's in the phase of not being for the tech people anymore so its all flash and ways of getting people to consume.

For the rest of us who know how and where to surf it is still an excellent source of knowledge and an excellent source of sharing knowledge with others.

Think about the [H]. You can ask a question for free...tech support like this would have costs you per minute 20 years ago.

 

[talktojld]

Do any of you people happen to know who Ray Bradbury is? You know, before looking him up on Wikipedia?

No...

So what temperature does paper burn at anyway? I hear a rumor that it's about 451 degrees?

 

[dr.stevil]

ya know, as much as I love the internet and technology in general, I cannot say that I disagree with him.

Thinking back to the pre-consumer based internet (back when BBS's were king) and comparing life in general, things were much more simple back then. I often wonder what life and society in general would be like without it right now.

To find out about the latest tech, you either had to know someone or subscribe to some sort of publication. To find out the score of the game, you either had to watch it (or know someone who watched it) or wait to see the scores in the paper the next day. Hell, my first copy of shareware doom was purchased through a mail order catalog for 3.50 I think (to cover postage and the floppy).

The internet has made people lazy, impatient and above all else, think they're smarter than they really are lol

 

[VA Supremacy]

ya know, as much as I love the internet and technology in general, I cannot say that I disagree with him.

Thinking back to the pre-consumer based internet (back when BBS's were king) and comparing life in general, things were much more simple back then. I often wonder what life and society in general would be like without it right now.

To find out about the latest tech, you either had to know someone or subscribe to some sort of publication. To find out the score of the game, you either had to watch it (or know someone who watched it) or wait to see the scores in the paper the next day. Hell, my first copy of shareware doom was purchased through a mail order catalog for 3.50 I think (to cover postage and the floppy).

The internet has made people lazy, impatient and above all else, think they're smarter than they really are lol

Exactly. I rather search quickly using the Internet for Research Papers on various Historical events or persons then look in a book since its harder to search with all the indexing and then cross-referencing and the bibliography. its everywhere at once on the net. With looking at books as the main source only starting with the Internet since its quicker lol!

I believe you are thinking of MicroStar- I still have a copy of the catalog. I so wanted to get Doom from them and some others but only got a few.

 

[Lollipop]

I love technology and the internet! I can remember when we sometimes had three channels on the big, ugly, wooden, tube TV's and we had to hold the rabbit ears and stand in crazy stances or put a coat-hangar and tin foil on it to get said channels to be viewable. Hell, I missed the beginning of the tech age maturing so here I am trying to observe and play catch up. So fuck the stone ages and may geeks rock on.

 

[TheMead]

besides from suffering from grouchy old man syndrome, I think Mr Bradbury believes that the internet is going to replace "the library" or cause them to shut down.

Well you know what, yes it does replaces the need to travel to the library for formerly mundane tasks including fact checking. But allows anyone and everyone the ability to use resources that use to be only found in a library, 24/7.

One thing that the Internet can't replace at least right now that you can do in a library is view copy written materials for freed, view the mass amounts of data that predates the internet in print or microfilm, and have a sit down and read a physical book you don't wish to buy.

 

[radioactivez0r]

ya know, as much as I love the internet and technology in general, I cannot say that I disagree with him.

Thinking back to the pre-consumer based internet (back when BBS's were king) and comparing life in general, things were much more simple back then. I often wonder what life and society in general would be like without it right now.

To find out about the latest tech, you either had to know someone or subscribe to some sort of publication. To find out the score of the game, you either had to watch it (or know someone who watched it) or wait to see the scores in the paper the next day. Hell, my first copy of shareware doom was purchased through a mail order catalog for 3.50 I think (to cover postage and the floppy).

The internet has made people lazy, impatient and above all else, think they're smarter than they really are lol

I'd say that with any technology, you get advantages and disadvantages, many of which have already been brought up in this thread. Yes, the internet has made it easier to see how utterly stupid people are (and to join in), but it's also made information so readily available that it's astounding.

We should save the libraries. Some communities have that as there only source for any information whether digital or in paper form. Books should never stop being published. I want a damn paper manual when I buy stuff. I like to look a pictures and if I freaking need help its right there.

My company stopped giving us service manuals to take with us after training classes because of cost; now we get a CD. I personally hate it, because having to find a computer to put it into and then find it in a PDF is annoying.

 

[ICOM]

“I remember being born. I remember being in the womb, I remember being inside. Coming out was great.”

umm...no you don't.

You would if you dropped some Purple Microdot, Orange Sunshine, Blue Unicorn, Red Pyramid, Black Star, or a hand full of caps and stems.

 

[mynamehere]

Do any of you people happen to know who Ray Bradbury is? You know, before looking him up on Wikipedia?

No...

So what temperature does paper burn at anyway? I hear a rumor that it's about 451 degrees?

I hear tell of the existence of martian cronicles.

 

[__hollywood|meow]

Do any of you people happen to know who Ray Bradbury is? You know, before looking him up on Wikipedia?

yes, and there are probably a lot of us familiar with him considering this is a giant nerd forum hes been one of my favorite authors since i was a kid.


i cant say im inclined to argue with mister bradbury about the jumbled trainwreck called the internet. i love it, and true its an invaluable resource for many reasons.. but it also gives my eyeballs aids fifty times a month.

Literally, dying.

dick move.

Books > internet.

/thread

 

[R0N1]

Well you know what, yes it does replaces the need to travel to the library for formerly mundane tasks including fact checking. But allows anyone and everyone the ability to use resources that use to be only found in a library, 24/7.

Yeah, nowadays I'm just too lazy going to the library, if something is available over the internet. That's the same with other things also, like movies and games, though which I prefer to order a real copy than download as digital only.

 

[Techx]

Yeah, I'd agree. The internet has mostly become a place where everybody shouts and nobody listens; mouth is working, ears are disengaged

i disagree.. lots are yelling and lots are listening.. hence the massive arguing you see everywhere

 

[JediFonger]

the books written in his prime like somn wicked, martian chronicles, farenheight, etc. are all great stuff. but his latter books that are collection of short stories i find lack life of the works of his prime. still good, but not great.

so even just on his works alone, i think he stopped 'trying' as it were . meh, artists, they think they're all that & a bag of chips.