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Imagine a culture that was pre-electricity. Bring someone from that culture to 1990. Show them cell phones, televisions, space travel, etc. Imagine the cultu

by crusso 15y ago

Imagine a culture that was pre-electricity. Bring someone from that culture to 1990. Show them cell phones, televisions, space travel, etc. Imagine the cultural shock... the "advanced technology == magic" effect. Now imagine showing someone from 1990 what things are like in 2012 with the internet we have today. While they would think it's "neat" and even "amazing", the magic effect would not be there. The internet is cool, no doubt, but it's not the leap that electricity has been.

graeme 15y ago
It's a good point. Energy's changes are highly visible and impactful, especially on a societal level. I would argue they're less impactful when we consider how an individual actually lives day to day. The effects of the internet are largely invisible. Some people today still don't get the internet at all. The world around them changed, but they can't notice. But for someone who does get the internet, it can completely change how you live your life.
cpeterso 15y ago
> Now imagine showing someone from 1990 what things are like in 2012 with the internet we have today. While they would think it's "neat" and even "amazing", the magic effect would not be there. I wonder what the biggest "future shock" for (let's say) a 1995 web user visiting the 2012 web? Video and bandwidth seem like the biggest differences, but as you point out, neither are "magic" from a 1995 context.
- DanBC 15y ago
  Video and bandwidth are impressive - 1995 was still painfully slow for many people. People maybe had 56 kbit/s, but perhaps that dropped back to 33.3 kbit/s because of noisy lines. (v90 was approved late 1998). I was stuck on 14.4 kbps for ages. Oh god. ("Sloppy" is apparently a modem speed simulator. (http://www.dallaway.com/sloppy/ http://www.dallaway.com/sloppy/) ) But I think the magic would be video and bandwidth on a handheld device?
  - graeme 15y ago
    I've noticed that the web has gotten more useful. Google has an answer for more and more things. Wikipedia covers more topics. The qualitative difference is real, but hard to measure, because we can't search the web as it was in 2004, using the google of 2004. I know I only went halfway back. If you go to 1995, there's a whole class of services that didn't exist.
    - cpeterso 15y ago
      Yeah, Wikipedia would be a pretty big "future shock" (though more social than technological). And another social surprise would be Facebook because of the number of non-techies using the Internet.

by crusso 15y ago

graeme 15y ago

It's a good point. Energy's changes are highly visible and impactful, especially on a societal level. I would argue they're less impactful when we consider how an individual actually lives day to day. The effects of the internet are largely invisible. Some people today still don't get the internet at all. The world around them changed, but they can't notice. But for someone who does get the internet, it can completely change how you live your life.

cpeterso 15y ago

> Now imagine showing someone from 1990 what things are like in 2012 with the internet we have today. While they would think it's "neat" and even "amazing", the magic effect would not be there. I wonder what the biggest "future shock" for (let's say) a 1995 web user visiting the 2012 web? Video and bandwidth seem like the biggest differences, but as you point out, neither are "magic" from a 1995 context.

DanBC 15y ago
Video and bandwidth are impressive - 1995 was still painfully slow for many people. People maybe had 56 kbit/s, but perhaps that dropped back to 33.3 kbit/s because of noisy lines. (v90 was approved late 1998). I was stuck on 14.4 kbps for ages. Oh god. ("Sloppy" is apparently a modem speed simulator. (http://www.dallaway.com/sloppy/ http://www.dallaway.com/sloppy/) ) But I think the magic would be video and bandwidth on a handheld device?
- graeme 15y ago
  I've noticed that the web has gotten more useful. Google has an answer for more and more things. Wikipedia covers more topics. The qualitative difference is real, but hard to measure, because we can't search the web as it was in 2004, using the google of 2004. I know I only went halfway back. If you go to 1995, there's a whole class of services that didn't exist.
  - cpeterso 15y ago
    Yeah, Wikipedia would be a pretty big "future shock" (though more social than technological). And another social surprise would be Facebook because of the number of non-techies using the Internet.