I think the webcomic "Toothpaste for Dinner" perfectly captured this sentiment: http://imgur.com/qhrduxF.jpg http://imgur.com/qhrduxF.jpg Are there negatives

I think the webcomic "Toothpaste for Dinner" perfectly captured this sentiment: http://imgur.com/qhrduxF.jpg http://imgur.com/qhrduxF.jpg Are there negatives to an alway-available Internet connection? Sure. Are they massively outweighed by the incredibly power of being able to communicate and share ideas and ideals with the entire world, and access the sum of human knowledge, for free, at a moments notice? Definitively yes. Calling a society "truly free" simply because they do not have easy access to one of the triumphs of human ingenuity seems naive at best, and wilfully patronising at worst.