Slashdot Mirror
New Study on Americans' Expectations of the Net
radicalsubversiv writes "A new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project reports on Americans' expectations about finding information on the Internet. The (unsurprising) results reveal that large portions of the public go to the net first for many kinds of information. '16 percent of the nonusers say they would turn to the Internet first the next time they need health care and government information.' AP story summarizing the results; and the actual report in PDF format."
She has heard of this thing called the internet, but she doesn't appreciate it.
:)
She asked me what I did for work, so I explained. "But you're not making anything, not doing anything", she said.
I'm working with information, I told her.
But that's not real, she said.
If people don't understand the value of information, well. Mind you, if there was a nuclear war, we'd all forget about computers pretty quickly and start trying to grow enough food to survive, find un-contaminated water, and somewhere to stay safe until the nuclear winter was over.
What's my point? I don't know. Maybe I've been insightful. Maybe not. I'll tell my Mum I talked about her on Slashdot though - that'll confuse her...
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> Yes, there are a lot of bad things about the internet
The only bad thing I see about the Internet is spam. Aside from that, the rest is stuff we can live with even if we don't all necessarily like it... In fact, every other "bad" thing about the Internet which is usually cited is something that's easily dealt with on the client side through filters, firewalls, etc. Spam and the bandwidth it wastes is the only 100% bad thing I can think of about the net.
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
Of course this requires a little more work on my part, actually picking through information and choosing what is good and what is crap, rather than having it spoon fed.
I actually laugh at what the AP wire and most newspapers call news. I pay little attention unless there is a "comments" link I can sift underneath. I often test a website by checking for and if neccessary posting a contrary comment, just to see if it sticks around. If the comment is harshly negative to the majority of comments already posted, but is not deleted, that website has validity, and I will be more apt to trust it.
You can scare yourself shitless searching for health care information on the Internet. The Onion have run a few stories on this.
Apparently, it's also a pain in the ass for doctors, because patients walk into their surgery having diagnosed themselves on Google and demand a particular treatment.
No need to teach granny to suck eggs, but as someone said above; it's on the Internet - so it has to be true.
Health Care info on the Internet is mostly bad news, because it is almost impossible to distinguish sound peer reviewed medical services from Dr. Nick Riviera's "I'll do any operation $199.99".
If you feel ill or find a lump anywhere, go see a real doctor.