> The internet did change things pretty dramatically.
For sure - I grew up in the mid-late 70s having to walk to the library to research stuff for homework, parents having to use the yellow-pages to find things, etc.
Maybe smartphones are more of a game changer than desk-bound internet though - a global communication device in your pocket that'll give you driving directions, etc, etc.
BUT ... does the world really FEEL that different now, than pre-internet? Only sort-of - more convenient, more connected, but not massively different in the ways that I imagine other inventions such as industrialization, electricity, cars may have done. The invention of the telephone and radio maybe would have felt a bit like the internet - a convenience that made you feel more connected, and maybe more startling being the first such capability?
For sure - I grew up in the mid-late 70s having to walk to the library to research stuff for homework, parents having to use the yellow-pages to find things, etc.
Maybe smartphones are more of a game changer than desk-bound internet though - a global communication device in your pocket that'll give you driving directions, etc, etc.
BUT ... does the world really FEEL that different now, than pre-internet? Only sort-of - more convenient, more connected, but not massively different in the ways that I imagine other inventions such as industrialization, electricity, cars may have done. The invention of the telephone and radio maybe would have felt a bit like the internet - a convenience that made you feel more connected, and maybe more startling being the first such capability?