Is the Internet a good thing or a bad thing? I only seem to use it for wasting time and buying cheap CDs, do you think it really has a legitimate purpose? And if so, are people like me who don’t use it for one simply abusing what is otherwise a vital communications system?
i use it as…
a potentially infinite knowledge resource (when did i last go to a library??)
a means of saving money
a means of earning money
a means of keeping in touch with people
a means of wasting time
I find it infinately useful as procrastination material. When in need of revision, just turn to the internet - and you have a legitamate excuse for using it cos you can tell your mum that you were looking up information.
I reckon the intoduction of the net has been a quiet revolution. For example, I have majorly diverse musical tastes; I’m talking from Hendrix/Led Zeppelin/Beatles all the way to hip hop like Anti-Pop Consortium. Would I have been able to acquire such a range of tastes before the net? Before MP3s and instantly available reviews and recommendations? Probably not. I would have been a less broad-minded person. The same analysis applies to so many things; you name it - philosophy, literature etc etc. I see the net as a great way to develop diversity and of course it contains a wealth of knowledge.
But it has its downsides. It’s slow and time-consuming and you can get bogged down in irrelevance - but I think, used with a discriminating eye, it’s a good thing.
The internet is a lot of fun, and a great way to keep in touch with friends (especially those who have moved away…who you would otherwise never talk to.)
On the flip side it can be kind of non-personal. I lose some of my social edge when I chat on a computer rather then on the phone or in person. I have to be very wary of how I use this wonderful tool.
has a quick flick through his mp3s
about 4000 odd ranging from beatles to bee gees, kim wilde to rem, dj pure to oasis, foo fighters to madonna, muse to prodigy, rammstein to air, madonna to john williams… to name but a very small few. before i had internet access i had a grand total of about half a dozen cds. i cant even start to comprehend the difference the internet has made to the scope of my musical tastes.
i’m going to discount that opinion, as you just admitted to liking rammstein.
rammstein are funny, but they’re no monty python.
go to jesusdressup.com for internet keftestaments.
or osamajokes.net
or a v. good anarxhist/satanist site hvd showed me, churchofsatan.org
the internet is never boring. like london, if you’re bored of the internet …
i didn’t say it was boring - i just think i only use it to waste time.
rammstein are excellent.
Promethias (forgive incorrect spelling) Discovered fire - but for for how many years did man just sit and stare at the wonder of it - how long before we were cooking etc. the point being, … does the internet have the power to unite foward thinkers - or will it just be something to marvel at.
The capacity of the internet is just like that of any tool - the capacity of those who use it. It allows people to do things that they previously believed incapable. The internet is already uniting forward-thinkers but at the same time it is being admired. I don’t think that the two are mutually exclusive. Have a look at the “i can do anything” post which seems to suggest that the possibilities of human achievement are nigh on endless. Whilst I don’t think that anything is possible because the idea of an objective reality is convinicing, we are capable of more than we currently understand. No doubt the internet will extenuate our capabilities.
konnt ihr wir horen - wir horen euch!
im not exactly what you would call a fanatic, but theres a fair few songs of theirs that i love
This is the forum for members to stop using their brains and to just talk like normal human beings.
alex - i was just musing about the fact that i waste time on the internet when i should be doing more important things. the fact that i don’t use it for a particularly legitimate purpose doesn’t limit my capacity for free thought. i also really don’t think it’s at all useful for any information required above gcse level, thus limiting it’s purpose as an education tool.
I disagree louise! Countless times I have used the internet for A-level essays and the information I have found has been too detailed. By its very nature, the internet is always being updated and therefore it is possible for it to hold information on the cutting edge of any subject.
The internet has broadened my mind so much in the 6 years I’ve been using it. A lot of the time was spent doing unproductive things(!) but when I started learning as well as “playing” I increased my “worldly knowledge” ten-fold. As an education tool I think the internet has LOADS to offer, just think how many pages google has and how many people there are to chat too online.
the internet has been an educational and communicational revolutional not seen since the inventions of the telephone/television. great!
i’m not starting this up again, but i found this
http://www.whitehouse.org/index.asp
quite ammusing, whilst i was wasting time on the internet instead of revising…
I think I’ve surfed the internet to it’s end and back and there’s just a wealth of information that I’ve found here. 
I also found A-level material… the essays I find aren’t so good
I used the internet for recent and relevant case law(up to 2001!)
I use it as an international news paper so I can write good essays for general paper and sociology
When I had bring-home essays for spanish, copy and paste was sooo ideal!.(lol kidding)
I believe presently the internet is a good thing. I also believe that it’s possibilities are endless, in reference to either extreme of good or bad. Which route it will go on is up to us. The internet is the closest thing we have to EQUALITY and FREEDOM. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying discrimination does not go on, I know only far too well all the hate sites out there, all the racism, prejudism, and so forth. But in comparison to the level of communication and other usage that the internet is being used for, the internet compared to anything else is the most equality and freedom based environment on such a broad scale.
What’s your take?
i hate rammstein. and surely everyone has diverse tastes? i think it would be a challenge to find someone with only one genre of music on their mp3 list. i don’t think that bears any relevance to anything being discussed, just thought i’d let you all know.