global computer network is a technology development as impactful (or more so!) as any other development in communications technology in the entire history of hu

global computer network is a technology development as impactful (or more so!) as any other development in communications technology in the entire history of humanity. what we've created in the last 30 years is as historically meaningful as the invention of alphabets and writing. nothing will be the same afterwards. it literally divides cultures into distinct eras. things were simply different pre-network than they are post-network. maybe you're just referring to a certain aspect of culture on the web when you refer to "The Internet". the culture of blogging, gossiping, and elevating online personas above other aspects of personality. that might certainly be a phase that fades away. however, there is nothing transitory about the cultural, political, and economic transformation that the global computer network creates.