Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The next 5000 days of the internet response

Kevin Kelly's lecture about the internet and the advancements it has made in the past 5000 days informed me about some things that I found to be astonishing, even scary. In the beggining of his speech he says that 50000 days ago, we were expecting the internet was going to be TV, but better. AS it turns out, the internet has become nothing like that. In fact, the internet has gone places and done things that weren't imaginable 5000 days ago. This is why Kelly suggests that web users have to get better in believing the impossible. "We are unprepared for it", are the exact words that Kelly uses to describe the rapid pace at which the internet is evolving and becoming smarter. I find this extremely troubling to say the least. Basically, Kelly believes the internet is capable of doing anything and there is no way for us to know what direction it head towards next. As he speaks of his "one machine" concept, I can't help but think of the movie iRobot. The movie takes place in the distant future and their entire society is run through this main computer, which eventually becomes so smart, that it takes actions into its own hands and rebels against the human race. Can this happen to us? Will the internet ever be able to think on its own as we do? For our sake, I hope not. Yes, Kelly believes that as the internet evolves, it will constantly make our lives easier and simpler. But as he, we need to start believing in the impossible. Who is to say that the internet has a major malfunction ten years from now and everybody's files and information is lost or found in places they shouldn't be? Who is to say the internet won't take over our lives like the computer did in iRobot? Anything is possible, right Kevin Kelly?

No comments:

Post a Comment