Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
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Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
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Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#2Is that the real page title?
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#3Clifford Stoll's writing should be required reading. He missed some of the technological leaps of the past 18 years that improved adoption (this was pre-pre-Bubble) but the many of the ideas of human contact do ring true today. I was very surprised when I read this the first time around. He elaborated more in Silicon Valley Snake Oil, also from 1995.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Snake_Oil
and
http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Snake-Oil-Thoughts-Information...
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#4Is that the real page title?
Unless it's been changed, yes.
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#5Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#6Clifford Stoll's writing should be required reading. He missed some of the technological leaps of the past 18 years that improved adoption (this was pre-pre-Bubble) but the many of the ideas of human contact do ring true today. I was very surprised when I read this the first time around. He elaborated more in Silicon Valley Snake Oil, also from 1995. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Snake_Oil and http://www.amazo…
SSO should be required reading for the current crop of "teach everyone to code" types.
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#7I think it's good to learn contrarians' opinions every once in a while. This is the last book he wrote, I think. Although the subtitle sounds indeed like heresy in this 21st century, I wonder what motivated his views back then.
http://www.amazon.com/High-Tech-Heretic-Reflections-Contrari...
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#8One of the reasons that this article may have wrong about the success of the Internet is that he was judging the Internet based on its capabilities at that time, rather than on what the underlying networking capabilities may provide in the future.
For example, he complains that it's too hard to find information online. His searches returned bad results and made it hard to find what he was looking for. This problem was solved (or began to be solved) only a few years later with Google.
He also mentions that you can't "take you laptop to the beach". He missed out on the idea that hardware would also improve until we have today's Kindles and iPads.
The Internet of 1995 wasn't great, but the underlying technical foundation allowed for growth and expansion that was unforeseen.
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#9Wow, he is nearly totally wrong on every point! :-)
"The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works."
And to think that we have really only just gotten started.... when I look back a few blinks to 2005 and realize that there wasn't even anything in popular culture known as Youtube... unbelievable!
The next decades are going to be amazing.
Re: Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana (1995)
#10I hope others don't take too much away from an article that contains the gem:
"So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?"
Human contact is nice and can't be replaced by our current technology. Don't let this one, easy-to-make, statement let the rest of the contrarianism seem correct. Mr. Stroll's vision for the future of the internet was short-sighted and uncreative, but it's fun to see how far we've come.
Very related article in which the author eats humble pie: http://boingboing.net/2010/02/26/curmudgeony-essay-on.html#c...