Vortices of Extelligence

Douglas Adams on the Internet

Once again, it seems that I fully and completely agree with yet another essay of the late Douglas Adams - this time on the subject of the Internet, the way it is currently perceived, and some of the ways in which it will probably be absorbed in our everyday life in the coming years.

A great excerpt to get your attention in the same way that anima got mine:

"I suppose earlier generations had to sit through all this huffing and puffing with the invention of television, the phone, cinema, radio, the car, the bicycle, printing, the wheel and so on, but you would think we would learn the way these things work, which is this:

1) everything that's already in the world when you're born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you're thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it's been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

Apply this list to movies, rock music, word processors and mobile phones to work out how old you are."

But don't be content with this: do go ahead and read the whole article, it is both amusing and thought-provoking.

Posted by roam at February 5, 2004 08:33 PM