IMHO, the reason that the web failed to deliver its promise of turning the traditional pyramidal structure of our economy upside down is because the alternative structure - one of de-centralized authority, control, and profit accumulation - is anathema to capitalism. This suggests that capitalism is not, ultimately the most desired form of commerce.
So the fact that the web's promises didn't work out in a capitalist system is all the evidence you need that capitalism is not "the most desired form of commerce"? I would think that the reason most web ventures failed was ridiculous products, naive business plans, and $1,500 dollar office chairs.
It's hard to stand back enough to get proper perspective. Off the top of my head, however, I can think of two significant ways the Net has changed lives around me.
1. Members of my family had long been estranged; every family reunion or phone call between certain siblings would end in an argument. My family started a listserv sort of arrangement, and have found that the ability to "think before you write" has led to family relationships which were, practically speaking, impossible a year earlier. And the speed of email, as opposed to snail mail, has led to us being more "in touch" with each other than ever before. Happy ending, hooray!
2. Information on virtually any subject is available almost any time I wish, be it the middle of the night, while I'm watching TV, or whenever. This change is so significant to me that it's hard to imagine what it was like "before." For the most part this has enabled me to be more politically and socially informed and active, but it's also allowed me to change careers (to MS developer, sorry), take up ham radio, help sell my mother's house without a realtor, build my own computers, etc.
I suspect that if I could really examine my life pre-Net and my life now, I'd find many more examples. "Revolutionize" is a strong word, but I think it may be justified.
But "visionaries" like Weinberger or my favorite, Faith Popcorn, are wankers, to be sure. Fortunately, I don't think anyone cares what they have to say.
I agree that a good portion of my job, mainly concerned with turning existing fax-and-paper business processes into web-based apps, will probably be gone in 15 years (though I do wonder what the specific dates you give are based on). But what do you folks think about jobs in database design, network/DB/system administration, etc.? I don't see those sorts of positions being exported or replaced with idiot-proof GUI tools, at least not at the enterprise level.
...makes me want to want to see this movie all the more:
I was looking forward to this movie and I didn't read the book before and maybe this was my fault. After 1 1/2 hours I couldn't understand what was going on, remeber all the names and places. So I got lost in all this stuff, not knowing what's going on. In my oppinion the movie has also no real ending! Ok, there'll be a sequel but a 3-hour movie without an ending, not knowing what happens is just boring! I didn't like the movie at all! Sorry guys!
This tells me that those who speak English passably, have some attention span, and have read the books will love it. Hooray!
Slashdot Mirror
Well said! Mod the man up a smidge.
IMHO, the reason that the web failed to deliver its promise of turning the traditional pyramidal structure of our economy upside down is because the alternative structure - one of de-centralized authority, control, and profit accumulation - is anathema to capitalism. This suggests that capitalism is not, ultimately the most desired form of commerce.
So the fact that the web's promises didn't work out in a capitalist system is all the evidence you need that capitalism is not "the most desired form of commerce"? I would think that the reason most web ventures failed was ridiculous products, naive business plans, and $1,500 dollar office chairs.
It's hard to stand back enough to get proper perspective. Off the top of my head, however, I can think of two significant ways the Net has changed lives around me.
1. Members of my family had long been estranged; every family reunion or phone call between certain siblings would end in an argument. My family started a listserv sort of arrangement, and have found that the ability to "think before you write" has led to family relationships which were, practically speaking, impossible a year earlier. And the speed of email, as opposed to snail mail, has led to us being more "in touch" with each other than ever before. Happy ending, hooray!
2. Information on virtually any subject is available almost any time I wish, be it the middle of the night, while I'm watching TV, or whenever. This change is so significant to me that it's hard to imagine what it was like "before." For the most part this has enabled me to be more politically and socially informed and active, but it's also allowed me to change careers (to MS developer, sorry), take up ham radio, help sell my mother's house without a realtor, build my own computers, etc.
I suspect that if I could really examine my life pre-Net and my life now, I'd find many more examples. "Revolutionize" is a strong word, but I think it may be justified.
But "visionaries" like Weinberger or my favorite, Faith Popcorn, are wankers, to be sure. Fortunately, I don't think anyone cares what they have to say.
I agree that a good portion of my job, mainly concerned with turning existing fax-and-paper business processes into web-based apps, will probably be gone in 15 years (though I do wonder what the specific dates you give are based on). But what do you folks think about jobs in database design, network/DB/system administration, etc.? I don't see those sorts of positions being exported or replaced with idiot-proof GUI tools, at least not at the enterprise level.
This tells me that those who speak English passably, have some attention span, and have read the books will love it. Hooray!
Um, did you read the subject?
Nokia cell phones can do this, it's called "predictive text input."