Internet also caused cancer!

Way to focus on a few of the negative aspects of the Internet, while ignoring the massive benefits it has given us. Benefits like:

- time/energy/money efficiency for businesses and individuals alike.
- accessibility for impaired demographics.
- better spread of knowledge (a quick google search is often equivalent to or better than a lengthy session at a library with the help of an expert librarian; it may give more updated information as well).

PS: Death of newspapers = good. Think of all the trees being saved by not reading news on dirtied dead trees (aka newspapers).

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.

Encyclopedia... I wanted a set when I was younger and still schooling, when I needed most. But hell, couldn't afford.

Yeah I never had a book set either. But I remember getting one of the first encyclopedias on a CD-ROM and being blown away by the embedded sound and video files within the articles. I could actually watch the Hindenburg Disaster while I read about it!

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.

I knew someone's gonna use that excuse.

If piracy is such a huge problem, how come they are making record profit year after year?

And that Wolverine movie that was leaked? It beat the crap out of other movies and raked in tons of $$$.

who

music/movie sales have been on a decline for over 10 years

Which alternate world did you come from? :)

I wonder if there were guys like Michael Lynton when they invented the wheel...