It Is A Shame Growing Up Is Getting Rapid, And The Internet Is No Exception
Can you remember when the internet was basically made to be entertaining? Oh I know that it was made in the 1960's to be a contact network for academic and military communications, but when it exploded and became available for all in the 1990's the early applications for it were generally all about fun. Naturally we needed plenty of IT support then because it was complex, even though it was quite primitive.
The proper indicator that the web was going to be a huge success was the one that infallibly signals to you that a type of communication is a winner: the porn industry flew to it. It might not be a jolly thought possibly, but it happens to be true. If you go back to the time of the WAP phone, you'll remember it died a death. No porn. Alternatively, video tape development and subsequently DVD, satellite and cable television, winners and embraced by the filth merchants. But the early computer adult sites instigated the early business models offering membership access, and businesses working in software consultancy took notice and started to tout for work among mainstream companies.
Then followed the dot com boom when the universe went potty and threw enormous quantities of cash at seemingly anyone who worked on a computer and told them they could make a company work online. IT support firms had a gold mine as well, supplying and installing hardware. There was also a goldmine for software consultancy firms as well as companies scrambled over each other to get online, create a web site and many of them lost fabulous sums in the process. Amazon didn't make any money for years, but the financiers wanted to support it and it became the beacon that the rest followed.
And as all this was happening, the internet became gradually less entertaining as the gullibility dimmed, and the obvious followed as the internet became more popular, the dark forces investigated and it became as straightforward to swindle people out of money as it is to sell them something legally. The people who wrote viruses became aware that they might get into people's personal files and a whole industry of IT support opened up in fighting against them as they created firewalls and anti virus software to protect users, which hampers connection speeds.
And in the scramble for firms to get revenue, the internet is less fun as email boxes fill up with spam, you browse a site and realise it isn't at all what you were looking for as the search engine optimisation has tricked you. And of course, if you have offspring you need to be aware of what could be out there searching for them, how the technology could be used to scare them or what they might find online that they may not be old enough for. And then there is the horror that you get to the moment that if you need some software consultancy, it's your kids that are the best people to consult.
Still I suppose the net had to develop like everything else, but it is a tragedy that it had to happen so rapidly.
20110408
The proper indicator that the web was going to be a huge success was the one that infallibly signals to you that a type of communication is a winner: the porn industry flew to it. It might not be a jolly thought possibly, but it happens to be true. If you go back to the time of the WAP phone, you'll remember it died a death. No porn. Alternatively, video tape development and subsequently DVD, satellite and cable television, winners and embraced by the filth merchants. But the early computer adult sites instigated the early business models offering membership access, and businesses working in software consultancy took notice and started to tout for work among mainstream companies.
Then followed the dot com boom when the universe went potty and threw enormous quantities of cash at seemingly anyone who worked on a computer and told them they could make a company work online. IT support firms had a gold mine as well, supplying and installing hardware. There was also a goldmine for software consultancy firms as well as companies scrambled over each other to get online, create a web site and many of them lost fabulous sums in the process. Amazon didn't make any money for years, but the financiers wanted to support it and it became the beacon that the rest followed.
And as all this was happening, the internet became gradually less entertaining as the gullibility dimmed, and the obvious followed as the internet became more popular, the dark forces investigated and it became as straightforward to swindle people out of money as it is to sell them something legally. The people who wrote viruses became aware that they might get into people's personal files and a whole industry of IT support opened up in fighting against them as they created firewalls and anti virus software to protect users, which hampers connection speeds.
And in the scramble for firms to get revenue, the internet is less fun as email boxes fill up with spam, you browse a site and realise it isn't at all what you were looking for as the search engine optimisation has tricked you. And of course, if you have offspring you need to be aware of what could be out there searching for them, how the technology could be used to scare them or what they might find online that they may not be old enough for. And then there is the horror that you get to the moment that if you need some software consultancy, it's your kids that are the best people to consult.
Still I suppose the net had to develop like everything else, but it is a tragedy that it had to happen so rapidly.
20110408
It Is A Shame Growing Up Is Getting Rapid, And The Internet Is No Exception
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