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Web Surfing Losing Its Luster

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the reality-sets-in dept.

asv108 writes "The New York Times has an article about how trolling the web is not nearly as much fun as it used to be. Reasons for the decline cited in the article include: commercialization, lack of compelling content, instant messaging, P2P, and the fact that it's been mainstream for a couple of years now. The average online session decreased from 90 (March 2000) to 83 minutes in March of 2001." It'll be interesting to see where the Net fits in relative to TV and movies for pure entertainment.

7 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. Its on yahoo as well by betis70 · · Score: 3, Informative

    In case you don't want to register.

    Yahoo link

    --
    I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
  2. Re:I protest by TheGeneration · · Score: 3, Informative

    I hardly think this a slow news day. Perhaps if you had read any non-tech sites you would have seen that Israel was hit by a particurally evil suicide bomb last night. Dudley Moore -AND- Milton Berle both died late yesterday. Arab piece talks. Reving up for war in Iraq. Energy meeting papers scandal.

    Hardly a slow day for news.

    --


    The Generation
    I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
  3. Re:Broadband by AnyLoveIsGoodLove · · Score: 2, Informative

    Exactly.....or.. The information / resources that I use are more efficient. For example Google...now that I have Google I spend a lot less time researching.

    ( More relevant information ) / (Less Time) = Greater Productivity

    When Greenspan talks about IT adding effieciency to our economy this one of the results.

    Stephen

    --
    "It's technical in a psychometric kind a way" -- C. Parish
  4. Re:BFAs by splume · · Score: 2, Informative

    I totally agree with this. When it takes my browser 5 seconds to download and load up a pop-up, pop-under, pop-over, pop-insideyourskull ad every time I surf to a page, surfing the net becomes tedious and boring. I don't know about the rest of you, but when an ad interupts my surfing experience, I make an effort to never shop from that advertised site.

    --

    Who is John Galt?
  5. It's also number of websites visited by Torgo's+Pizza · · Score: 2, Informative
    It's true that time on the Internet is decreasing. One study showed the average amount of time spent online decreased from eight hours and one minute per week in January 2000 to seven hours and 49 minutes in July of 2000, and to seven hours and eight minutes in January 2001.

    But also the number of sites being visited is decreasing. Patterns are showing that surfers are visiting the same sites over and over and not visiting new sites. Just like television viewing habits, where a family gets a set schedule of watching the same shows over and over, the same is happening to the web. I find myself with the same set of bookmarks and using those to find the information I need. For instance, the average British user visits only 12 sites a week. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut sometimes when I'm surfing.

  6. A decline in Internet use is to be expected by rudy_wayne · · Score: 2, Informative

    1. Web sites are becoming more and more offensive. I recently visited a site that wouldn't display properly in Opera so I used IE. Unfortunately, IE lacks Opera's ability to block pop-up windows, and I was so bombarded with pop-ups that it was impossible to find the information I was looking for.

    2. Search engines are all but useless. Type in any word or phrase and you get pr0n sites.

    3. Your e-mail in-box is constantly flooded with spam.

    4. The most popular Internet activities are message boards, instant messaging, chat rooms and e-mail. In other words, a high tech equivalent of the CB radio. Like the CB radio, the fad is passing.

    5. Other than plain text and simple HTML, the Internet is worthless as a vehicle for delivering content. Which actually doesn't matter since most web sites have no content worth seeing.

  7. stating the obvious: there *is* still good stuff by doom · · Score: 3, Informative
    There's a lot of interesting points being made here, but the thing I expected to see is almost totally missing: why isn't everyone pointing at cool, fun stuff that still exists on the web?

    I never paid a lot of attention to "The Cool Site of the Day", but if I wanted a substitute I might go over here: Infinite Matrix, where you'll find people like Bruce Sterling writing web log entries pointing at neat stuff they've come across: Schism Matrix.

    So there are fewer stupid novelty sites on the web. Is that supposed to be something to be upset about?

    ... many users say they would rather chat with their friends than spend their time surfing the Web
    Well, duh.

    There are other signs that all is not well in Webville. For the first time, the number of expiring domain names outnumbers those being registered or renewed
    That's supposed to be a *bad* sign? It's a great sign that (a) some totally mindless companies best thought of as venture capital backed stock scams and (b) some scuzzy domain name speculators have faded from the scene.

    Other users say they are less inclined to hunt for innovative sites because many of them require plug-ins or browser updates that force users into bothersome downloading.
    Well, duh. Memo to web designers: put away your toys and do your job.

    Memo to NYT authors: when stuck for a story idea, you can always go for the "Is _____ Dead?" formula. Run a bunch of random comments slanted to make it sound like something's going wrong, then you can "provide balance" by running a bunch of quotes saying that it isn't really going wrong.