[Archive] "Why the internet will fail" an article from 1995

Archive [Archive] Off-Topic Discussion
1

Swissdictator:

Link to the article

I find this quite funny. When CDs were still referred to as “CD-ROMS” plus there are a dozen or so other funny things in there.

2

GRNDL:

Uhm, CD-ROM is a definitive format. Not all CDs are CD-ROMs.

Anyway, hindsight is 20x20. One of my favourite sayings was from the Wright brothers in 1903, one year before they took to the air at Kitthawk, NC. "Heavier than air flight will not be possible in our lifetime…"

Its very hard to see into the future and what it will bring. Its easy to dream up strange technologies and want them, but its very hard to see how it will affect the future and more importantly, us and how we relate to it.

3

Bolg:

What�?Ts missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact.
Thats what makes it so great!
4

Thommy H:

Then there�?Ts cyberbusiness. We�?Tre promised instant catalog shopping�?"just point and click for great deals. We�?Tll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet�?"which there isn�?Tt�?"the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.

Batshit crazy article from the past
This is the greatest thing I've ever read.
5

snowblizz:

This is why you should never ever try to second guess things.

Or you end up like the patent worked in 1899 who thought everything was invented. Maybe I should look up that unreliable and unedited Internet thingy to check the facts? Or spend literally weeks trying to find it in a book at the library? Must be faster than the clunky search engines, right?

:slight_smile:

6

cornixt:

A classic example of someone who failed to see any possible improvements. Internet searching was a real pain back then and storage was expensive. the same things they complain about are the same that are very popular now just because they are more convenient.

7

Willmark:

“The best way to perdict the future is to invent it.”