The fundamental flaw in this poll is the title. Dehumanizing? Since when are pollsters the authority on what is and isn't human? Now if it had been called "Is the net destroying the social fabric of America" or something along those lines...
It's a matter of perspective. The net is a social boon for those incapable of making eye contact with other humans. And for the deaf, mute, and those with severe speech impediments the internet has created a social golden age. People making the effort to demonize the technology are generally those who are out of the loop. They see their kids choosing a different social tool than they are accustomed to and interpret this as a dangerous act of rebellion. Or they just plain can't understand how to operate a computer and paranoia sets in - we must destroy everything we can't comprehend!
The parallels others have drawn with the telephone are a good clue as to where the net is heading. After all, the net is nothing more than a visual interface for the phone. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a jpg is worth an hour on the phone. The dust is still settling from the rush to get online, and given time internet access will be taken for granted just like the phone, cable TV, CD players, etc.
But until that happens, journalists understand that there is money to be made on both pro and anti-net propaganda like this article. It is our duty to ignore it.
Slashdot Mirror
The fundamental flaw in this poll is the title. Dehumanizing? Since when are pollsters the authority on what is and isn't human? Now if it had been called "Is the net destroying the social fabric of America" or something along those lines...
It's a matter of perspective. The net is a social boon for those incapable of making eye contact with other humans. And for the deaf, mute, and those with severe speech impediments the internet has created a social golden age. People making the effort to demonize the technology are generally those who are out of the loop. They see their kids choosing a different social tool than they are accustomed to and interpret this as a dangerous act of rebellion. Or they just plain can't understand how to operate a computer and paranoia sets in - we must destroy everything we can't comprehend!
The parallels others have drawn with the telephone are a good clue as to where the net is heading. After all, the net is nothing more than a visual interface for the phone. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a jpg is worth an hour on the phone. The dust is still settling from the rush to get online, and given time internet access will be taken for granted just like the phone, cable TV, CD players, etc.
But until that happens, journalists understand that there is money to be made on both pro and anti-net propaganda like this article. It is our duty to ignore it.