Internet infestation?

When I think back to my younger days, days where I spent most of my time being under 4ft, I marvel at how far computers have come. In those simpler days we were faced with nothing more complicated than the BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Amstrad and Acorn which would all do the same basic tasks of word processing, basic graphics and very primitive games. These days we have machines that are capable of editing high quality photos, editing audio and communicating with people on the other side of the globe, that, I think, it one hell of a leap forward in a couple of decades.

You do have to wonder though, wether or not this dependancy upon computers and the internet is a good thing and if we are sacrificing aspects of life long held dear to make room for this digital age.

Emma Thompson was reported today at being appalled at how people no longer seem to use proper language, replacing it with slang and basic vocabulary and many would agree. You could argue that the internet is to blame in part with shortened writing, as you would find in text messages, appearing frequently, as though to save space or in some cases it would appear, to make what they are saying so indecipherable that only the person receiving can understand it. Yes languages change over time, merge with others and bend to the progress of society but when children can't even spell session, because or what you have to consider whether or not language is regressing.

The internet has proven itself as an invaluable resource of information, discussion and progression in a wide number of fields, but should be discarding books to make room for the online word? You can pretty much find results for anything you care to think of when searching on Google, but when it comes to knowledge, books still hold sway. When a text is produced the first port of call is paper; people will then go and buy the book or borrow it from their nearest library, this process ensures that everyone can have access to the book and its physical nature means it does not depend upon a variety of other elements to read it. Online books needs to be regulated in regards to who has the rights to access them, who has the rights to put the book up and all that other legal malarkey. Then we come to the technical issues. First of all you need to own a computer which we all know can break, then you need the phone line for the internet then internet access itself. If any one of those elements is disrupted then access to texts is removed; much more complicated than going out to a shop or library and picking up the physical thing which doesn't even need batteries.