"The steam engine... probably transformed American law, but the 'law of the steam engine' never existed,"
What he is talking about here is the steam engine that (for example) powered factories, equipment in mines and early powerplants in the last two centuries. Yes, using it to get from one place to another by attaching wheels (or a paddle) was one application of the steam engine.
By applying this new technology to many different problems it gave people a new way to accomplish old tasks, opened up new possibilities and entire industies were born.
Does the above sentence sound familiar? It could just as easely be applied to the internet.
Whats different about the internet is its international nature and distruction of social barriers that an unhindered global flow of information causes.
That and being still very "new" to most of the population, people are scared of it because they do not understand what it is. Just as people seeing a train for the first time may have thought of it as a monster without realising that it is a just another great advancement in human technology.
The internet is just another technological advancement and will influence laws in time just like any major invention that impacts our lives.
Slashdot Mirror
Where does it say anything about trains?
... probably transformed American law, but the 'law of the steam engine' never existed,"
"The steam engine
What he is talking about here is the steam engine that (for example) powered factories, equipment in mines and early powerplants in the last two centuries. Yes, using it to get from one place to another by attaching wheels (or a paddle) was one application of the steam engine.
By applying this new technology to many different problems it gave people a new way to accomplish old tasks, opened up new possibilities and entire industies were born.
Does the above sentence sound familiar? It could just as easely be applied to the internet.
Whats different about the internet is its international nature and distruction of social barriers that an unhindered global flow of information causes.
That and being still very "new" to most of the population, people are scared of it because they do not understand what it is. Just as people seeing a train for the first time may have thought of it as a monster without realising that it is a just another great advancement in human technology.
The internet is just another technological advancement and will influence laws in time just like any major invention that impacts our lives.