1995: The Internet? Bah!

[Lunican]

The Internet? Bah!

Hype alert: Why cyberspace isn't, and will never be, nirvana

After two decades online, I'm perplexed. It's not that I haven't had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I've met great people and even caught a hacker or two. But today, I'm uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.

Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.

. . .

Then there's cyberbusiness. We're promised instant catalog shoppingâ€"just point and click for great deals. We'll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?

http://www.newsweek.com/1995/02/26/the-internet-bah.html

[CS Foltz]

I agree big guy..................maybe in the next 100 years but not in the next 50!

[Doctor_K]

Then again, the article was written in February 1995. 

A lot has changed in 15 years, no?