Weird 3am SIllyman ranting

[Sillyman]

You know what I hate about modern technology? The fact that we now have the capacity to reproduce more crap than ever before. In the old days when you hand to write the whole book yourself and you had to have a monk copy it for you if you wanted an extra, people did not write down their bullshit thoughts and spread them everywhere. When you hand to have each plate carved from a single block of wood, people reproduced IMPORTANT books. When you had to write each note of the music sheet by hand, you didn't spend your time composing the same goddamn song over and over.

Now we can have a deluge of crap. It's cheap so why not? We can have hundreds of redundant books and thousands of stupid sappy redone songs. We can preserve even the stupidest shit that our culture produces, and we are going to do exactly that. You know why people in the past are made to be great? Because their dumb shit was never recorded, that's why. If you wanted to take the time to make something of lasting value, you made sure it was something that mattered.

Now thanks to the Internet we can have mounds upon mounds of crap, like what I'm writing RIGHT THIS SECOND.

Isn't technology wonderful?

 

[MechaBlade]

In the old days when you hand to write the whole book yourself and you had to have a monk copy it for you if you wanted an extra, people did not write down their bullshit thoughts and spread them everywhere. When you hand to have each plate carved from a single block of wood, people reproduced IMPORTANT books.

You forgot about the Bible.

Although there is more crap, there is more good stuff, too.

Go Technology!

 

[teddybear4play]

You know what I hate about modern technology? The fact that we now have the capacity to reproduce more crap than ever before. In the old days when you hand to write the whole book yourself and you had to have a monk copy it for you if you wanted an extra, people did not write down their bullshit thoughts and spread them everywhere. When you hand to have each plate carved from a single block of wood, people reproduced IMPORTANT books. When you had to write each note of the music sheet by hand, you didn't spend your time composing the same goddamn song over and over.

Now we can have a deluge of crap. It's cheap so why not? We can have hundreds of redundant books and thousands of stupid sappy redone songs. We can preserve even the stupidest shit that our culture produces, and we are going to do exactly that. You know why people in the past are made to be great? Because their dumb shit was never recorded, that's why. If you wanted to take the time to make something of lasting value, you made sure it was something that mattered.

Now thanks to the Internet we can have mounds upon mounds of crap, like what I'm writing RIGHT THIS SECOND.

Isn't technology wonderful?

This post reminds me of Herman Melville. He often wondered about technological reproductions. In fact, some say his short story "Bartleby, The Scrivener" is a . . . oh, the hell with it, I'll just watch wrestling.

TB4p

 

[scylis]

*sitting on toilet, hands gripping the towel rack and pressed against the wall, slightly hunched over with my face a mask of pain*

oh, i feel a Pulitzer coming on!

 

[Coolville]

You know what I hate about modern technology? The fact that we now have the capacity to reproduce more crap than ever before. In the old days when you hand to write the whole book yourself and you had to have a monk copy it for you if you wanted an extra, people did not write down their bullshit thoughts and spread them everywhere. When you hand to have each plate carved from a single block of wood, people reproduced IMPORTANT books. When you had to write each note of the music sheet by hand, you didn't spend your time composing the same goddamn song over and over.

Now we can have a deluge of crap. It's cheap so why not? We can have hundreds of redundant books and thousands of stupid sappy redone songs. We can preserve even the stupidest shit that our culture produces, and we are going to do exactly that. You know why people in the past are made to be great? Because their dumb shit was never recorded, that's why. If you wanted to take the time to make something of lasting value, you made sure it was something that mattered.

Now thanks to the Internet we can have mounds upon mounds of crap, like what I'm writing RIGHT THIS SECOND.

Isn't technology wonderful?

Everytime some technology is created people claim we are advancing, evolving, making life easier and better.

More often than not, we are merely replacing old things with new and in many cases, we are not evolving any more than we are stagnating.

Remember when the Internet swept the world? Only a few years ago Internet usage exploded. Everyone was waxing poetic about all the possibilties, all the freedom of speech, all the humanity gathered together.

Now all that is interesting is all the porn.

Recent research here in Scandinavia shows that the internet was grossly overrated. It may have opened some doors, but the vast majority of regular users now only surf to an average of five sites. A web-based email site, one or two newspapers, supermarket sites (looking for deals) and a "other" site.
This in a region when 70% of citizens have internet at home and 50% have Adsl.

The internet may have been the modern day answer to Gütenberg's printing press, but it quickly became mundane and routine. The internet has become a refrigerator. Can't live without it but don't notice it much.

It's an MTV world. Things need to change constantly to be interesting.

Okay, that was a 10 AM waffle, but a waffle all the same.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

This is why Technology has travelled so fast the last 50 years... we have the means to waffle for the world to see... so those that do know what they are doing can pick the good stuff out of the waffle and make it more than waffle....

10.30pm waffle....

 

[MechaBlade]

Re: Re: Weird 3am SIllyman ranting

The internet may have been the modern day answer to Gütenberg's printing press, but it quickly became mundane and routine. The internet has become a refrigerator. Can't live without it but don't notice it much.

It's an MTV world. Things need to change constantly to be interesting.

Okay, that was a 10 AM waffle, but a waffle all the same.

The Internet is mundane? What the fuck are you smoking? You have 2600 posts!

I could understand if you barely used the Internet and you felt bored by it, but you obviously are getting something from it.

 

[Coolville]

The point is that very few people, according to that research, use the glory of the internet. They don't even chisel an ice cube off the tip of the iceberg.

They, and I, get "something" out of it. It's a part of my life. Just like my fridge.

But in principle, I /we should spend our time surfing for ancient tribal rituals in Western Samoa, recipes for Sri Lankan soup, studying the trials and tribulations of the Visgoth culture.

But we don't. We read the papers, check mail, perhaps post at a message board place like this one and once in a while surf at random.

But we don't use the full potential of the net as experts predicted we would.

 

[Ginny]

*sitting on toilet, hands gripping the towel rack and pressed against the wall, slightly hunched over with my face a mask of pain*

oh, i feel a Pulitzer coming on!

lmao

 

[bknight2602]

Apparently since you are ranting about it online.

 

[Belilica]

Re: Re: Weird 3am SIllyman ranting

Now all that is interesting is all the porn.

...and that's why we're here....

 

[ksmybuttons]

But we don't use the full potential of the net as experts predicted we would.

I use the internet for research. I am not a student, but when I want to know something, it is the first place I come.

I find out books to read. I get them from the library. I can search my library right from home.

It is better than the yellow pages.

I can use the maps and get anywhere.

I can look at all the porn I could possibly want.

I converse with people all over the globe. (if they speak English.)

I can check on Congress and what is going on right now.

I can check out history.

I think you are limited only by your imagination and your willingness to try things. People put limits on themselves. The internet is not a limiting experience.

And, Sillyman, one of the things I like about the net is that I don't have to keep anything. It can go right back into the void whence it came.

 

[alexandraaah]

I understand, Silly.

I, too, have been shamelessly watching the new "American Idol."

 

[Jim_Henson]

One day sillman is going to do a rant about me, and he's gonna make me SOOO happy

 

[teddybear4play]

Re: Re: Weird 3am SIllyman ranting

Everytime some technology is created people claim we are advancing, evolving, making life easier and better.

More often than not, we are merely replacing old things with new and in many cases, we are not evolving any more than we are stagnating.

Remember when the Internet swept the world? Only a few years ago Internet usage exploded. Everyone was waxing poetic about all the possibilties, all the freedom of speech, all the humanity gathered together.

Now all that is interesting is all the porn.

Recent research here in Scandinavia shows that the internet was grossly overrated. It may have opened some doors, but the vast majority of regular users now only surf to an average of five sites. A web-based email site, one or two newspapers, supermarket sites (looking for deals) and a "other" site.
This in a region when 70% of citizens have internet at home and 50% have Adsl.

The internet may have been the modern day answer to Gütenberg's printing press, but it quickly became mundane and routine. The internet has become a refrigerator. Can't live without it but don't notice it much.

I don't know how the Internet is used in Scandinavia, but that seems somewhat shortsighted to me.

Between integrated business software, real-time stock market activity, up-to-the-second news briefs, shipment tracking, and little website communities on everything from Pintos to popcorn to porn, the Internet is a revolution, even though many people may not directly participate in it as much as others.

TB4p