| The Ghost of RubangB said: I think losing newspapers is acceptable when we now have free access to instantly sharing our knowledge/skills/ideas around the world. It's better for science, business, and art. We also now have free encyclopedias, dictionaries, library search tools, calendars, e-mail, instant messaging, weather, global news from every source and every media watchdog, VoIP, video chat, remote access, file sharing, the ability to quickly and easily purchase things unavailable in your area, and everything else. It's better for education, communication, journalism, and everything else. |
Yes and no. It's a great tool if used with caution, but most people are simply not educated into using it.
We come from the time of books and of newspapers, when an author had to go through editing before publishing and was exposed to a much more thorough peer review system.
Some people extend that trust to anything written... but without source-checking and critical review most specialized knowledge you find on the internet is almost worthless. I can't count the times I was given a link to a Wikipedia article as a trusted source, only to find it incomplete or biased or superficial. And Wikipedia is not the worst out there.
Information overload brings so much within your grasp, that it is actually hard to extract the significant bits out of the molassa of self-referential half-assed content.
Going back OT: he's the Sony Pictures guy. What exactly has the internet brought to his business world? More easily accessible movie reviews and an easier way to rent items, versus an incredible increment in movie piracy? He's got a point, in his limited way.
