The Line

The internet has entered our daily lives in some surprising ways.  Where would we be without e-mail?  Google?  E-bay?  Wikipedia?

We are tied in, connected, downloadable, and surfable. What would we do during the day without having information at the stroke of a key?  Could we get through a day without it?

I am reminded of a line from one of my favorite movies, The Big Chill.  Two of the characters are talking about rationalizing what you want to do with what you should do.  When informed that rationalization was more important than sex, Sam, played by Tom Berenger, pipes up that nothing was more important than sex.  To which Michael, played by Jeff Goldblum, replies that he wasn't so sure about that because, "Have you ever gone a day without a good rationalization?"

The same could be said nowadays about the internet. Tell me, have you gone a day without a good download?

The internet is even affecting creative writing now.  Personally, I know that I am old fashioned in wanting a paper book in my hands.  I love the feel of the paper, the way it smells, the sound of the pages turning.  But more and more this information generation is turning to online for their reading enjoyment.

Subject matters are starting to reflect this in paper books as well.  My husband recently picked up a book called Daemon by Daniel Suarez.  In it, a mad genius/gaming programmer has managed to, through clever use of technology, live beyond his own death and arrange for the murders of his business partners and rivals.

A similar book is Halting State by Charles Stross.  In this book, the bank in an online multi player game is successfully robbed by a band of orcs with a red dragon for air support. What fun!

Even our beloved Second Life began life as an idea in a book.  In Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson, the Metaverse is imagined as successor to the internet where ... "a virtual reality based Internet might evolve in the near future.  Resembling an MMO, the Metaverse is populated by user controlled avatars as well as system daemons.  Although there are public-access Metaverse terminals in Reality, using them carries a social stigma among Metaverse denizens, in part because of the poor visual representations of themselves as low-quality avatars."   (Thank you, Wikkipedia.)

Hummm, sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Another thing to look at is all the devices out there that keep us connected.  The iPad, laptops, Droids, cell phones.  I keep telling myself that I will never get a tablet to carry books with me. However, thinking back to the days when I was in college and lugging around several metric tons of books to class, what I would have given to be able to carry all my textbooks in one and a half pounds.  Le sigh!  Maybe I would have fewer back troubles now if that had been the case.

Most companies are making an effort to "go green" by putting all their training materials on line.  It is easier for them to update the materials and get them to their workers hands.  It also saves on the expense of printing tons of paper and binding them for distribution.

While I can understand and sympathize with this desire, I miss being able to highlight, circle, make notes in the margins, and otherwise make it easier to study new material.  Maybe that is the next things Steve Jobs needs to work on.  Sticky notes and highlighter markers for I-pads!  Hey, Steve, idea time!

For myself, I will probably never resort to doing all my reading on a screen or iPad. Eye strain and migraines make that mostly impossible for me.  But technology is quickly taking us to the next level.  Where will The Line take you next?