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Item of Interest

We use it every day. “The internet: everything you need to know”

It’s become totally pervasive within our everyday lives but what do we really know about The Internet?

A great, insightful article by John Naughton. http://bit.ly/bAuoOY

A funny thing happened to us on the way to the future. The internet went from being something exotic to being boring utility, like mains electricity or running water – and we never really noticed. So we wound up being totally dependent on a system about which we are terminally incurious.

He compares the introduction of the printing press with the Internet (an analogy I totally agree with) and wonders just what the ultimate result will be; after all, 17 years after the introduction of the printing press it would have been totally impossible to predict the overall effect.

It’s a long article, but definitely worth a read:

  1. Take the Long View
  2. The web isn’t the Net
  3. Disruption is a feature not a bug (read only this if you must skip the rest)
  4. Think Ecology not Economics
  5. Complexity is the new reality (Sharkey says complex systems can’t survive)
  6. The network is now the computer (but I still save things locally because connection is NOT ubiquitous and NOT 10%% reliable)
  7. The Web is changing
  8. Huxley and Orwell are the bookends of our future.
  9. Our Intellectual property regime is no longer fit for the purpose. (Amen)