The real problem is that for a long time, from roughly 1995-2015, the internet was better than most of the alternatives. For the end user, it was cheaper (the cost of an internet connection is small compared to the cost of all the things it replaces), it was easier to learn to use, it had vastly more obscure information, and since for most of that period of time, most people were using it, and especially most people in privileged classes, it was hard to avoid unless you were either too poor to afford it, in which case you didn't have much in terms of influence on society anyway, or you actively chose to avoid it.
The problem which emerges then is that in this context, the alternatives are pointless: why bother to keep all those car repair manuals, or phone books, or for reference books of any kind? Who needs any of it, when it's all easily available online? Gutting the analog world was a rational choice.
Now, however, with the internet rapidly deteriorating, all those things would come in handy, but it's going to take time to get them up and running, and a large number of people have forgotten how it was done; and a lot of people, such as myself, are too young to remember a world before the internet.
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branchandroot
Re: Unfiltered search engines?
Date: 2023-08-04 12:43 am (UTC)The problem which emerges then is that in this context, the alternatives are pointless: why bother to keep all those car repair manuals, or phone books, or for reference books of any kind? Who needs any of it, when it's all easily available online? Gutting the analog world was a rational choice.
Now, however, with the internet rapidly deteriorating, all those things would come in handy, but it's going to take time to get them up and running, and a large number of people have forgotten how it was done; and a lot of people, such as myself, are too young to remember a world before the internet.