Back in the day did you think the future would be better ?

[Doc]

Whats scary is the fact we have people who can operate complex things like computers but can not write a coherent sentence in their native language...

Or people care more about their garden in farmville then going outside... Hell they care more about the internet then feeding their kids.

Any other parents here have their kids friends come over to hang out? You see 5 kids spread out around the room all in their own little worlds texting or whatever....Sick sick world.

Got to go talk to my friend in Germany on facebook...Oh but I dont know my next door neighbors name....

[Brazoo]

>I'd argue that our concept of communication is totally alien to what it was 25 years ago.

I dunno, considering how much of online communication isn't full communication. We miss a lot of cues, and don't form a lot of connection online like we would in person. Plus; a lot of them relationships tend to be "all business," interaction of a limited sort. Like we would have with folks waiting in line at the checkout, or at the bus stop. We THINK we're connected, but we really aren't.

7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable | Cracked.com

Don C.

True - but Don, I'm not trying to say that communication is perfect now - I'm just saying the impact of the internet has radically changed society.

You're saying the internet hasn't brought anything new - well, by that standard what would ever be new? You could argue the Gutenberg printing press wasn't new, it was just a way of writing information quicker - but we know it was "new" because of it's impact and how much of the world was made different after it's existence.

But not everything new is going to be better, I agree with you there. You're saying communication isn't full communication, and it could be argued that knowledge isn't full knowledge after books. Because after books our knowledge extends beyond what's in our heads to what's on a shelf. It's not knowledge the way we knew it before, it's got it's benefits and it's problems - but I still say it's very new!

[megomania]

In 1978 I had a vivid dream/premonition that people in 2010 would be able to operate Grocery store self-checkout kiosks as well as Automated Postal kiosks timely and efficiently. Sadly that did not come true.....

[Brazoo]

I think the key word is information and the ease at which it can be gathered or exchanged.

Information is asymmetrical. It was overwhelmingly in the hands of the experts and they could always use it to their advantage... from politics to life insurance policies (among many other things).

Information is still asymmetrical, but it is a lot less so across a broad range of things. If one is willing to wade through it all, much of it is at our fingertips now and we can educate ourselves about things like real estate markets, used car history, the best rate available for a loan, shady businesses, etc. Heck, on a daily basis, members come to this board and ask, "Has anyone every purchased from (fill in the blank)?" or "What is the best service for (fill in the blank)?".

Having information so readily available has created a very different economy and, for the time being, has shifted a lot information from the hands of the haves to the have nots.

Yeah - I think that's the main force of the impact for sure.

Politics is a great example you raised - politicians need the little people to stay in power, so they need to chase after the popular technology. Politicians needed to become great speakers after the radio became popular, and needed to look better after TV, and now with the internet they have to make it seem like they're communicating to people directly with that 'non-full' type of communication Don was talking about.

Hopefully all this access to information, and interaction with media makes people more aware of the way media can be used to manipulate people. Hopefully the general public don't become "have nots" again.

[bp1701a]

lets see, Things forseen in future,,,,
Star Trek, we have, cell phones.(flip phones),floppy disks,desk top computers,Padd ( kirk used one and TNG uses them)(todays iPAD),automatic doors,hyposprays(used in military),
Star Wars,,, nothing,,,,

[Adam West]

In 1978 I had a vivid dream/premonition that people in 2010 would be able to operate Grocery store self-checkout kiosks as well as Automated Postal kiosks timely and efficiently. Sadly that did not come true.....

LOL....actually, some of the problem has to do with the kiosks itself. If I have an item with no barcode on it, I have to spend time looking it up where a store clerk probably knows the code off the top of their head. I also run into problems with the scanner not reading the barcode at all. My local grocery store is really good about having people around to help when something gets futzed up with the scanning device but at a place like Wally-World...there's usually one person trying to man 10-15 self checkout kiosks.