Fifty Things Being Destroyed By the Internet

By John Farrier in Blogs & Internet on Sep 7, 2009 at 7:43 pm

Matthew Moore of The Daily Telegraph has a list of fifty technological or cultural features being eroded or eliminated by the Internet. Here are a few samples. What would you add to the list?

1) The art of polite disagreement
While the inane spats of YouTube commencers may not be representative, the internet has certainly sharpened the tone of debate. The most raucous sections of the blogworld seem incapable of accepting sincerely held differences of opinion; all opponents must have “agendas”….

3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There’s no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will “album albums” like Radiohead’s Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?…

22) Enforceable copyright
The record companies, film studios and news agencies are fighting back, but can the floodgates ever be closed?…

Link via Urlesque

Image via flickr user William Hook used under creative commons license.

Tags: Daily Telegraph, Matthew Moore, web culture

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Juice
Sep 7th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Radiohead deserves no hearing.
Craig in Portland
Sep 7th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
51 things…
The internet ISN’T killing trees to make newspapers, paper, christmas cards, envelopes, etc…. and it’s doing those same things faster and more efficiently.
Johnny Cat
Sep 7th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
50? Oh man, I can’t read them all…I gotta lot of other surfing to do before sleep.
SenorMysterioso
Sep 7th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I dont think the internet is to blame for people not listening to albums all the way through. I’d say CDs are probably the reason. Skipping the lame songs is nothing new though, I used to move the needle to the song I wanted on records.
D Bozko
Sep 7th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
The article may say 50 things being killed by the internet but some of those have nothing to do with the internet. They talk about punctuality in terms of texting and watches in terms of a cell phone. In both cases the internet isn’t involved.
However, I do agree that technology as a whole and specifically the internet are changing our lives. Specifically, newspapers and magazines are on the way out because the internet is instantaneous.
health
Sep 7th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
If only more people listened to legit bands whose songs didn’t warrant skipping.
Johnny Cat
Sep 7th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Yes to newspapers and magazines. Video stores are endangered too.
Marianne
Sep 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
MORE people are reading now, because of the internet.

When people say, Oh, no one will READ anymore, we’re producing nations of illiterates. What? The internet is ALL about reading! And reading! And more reading!

People are reading The New York Review of Books, and The New York Times, that would never have read them before.

The internet asserts the primacy and durability and yes, necessity, of this activity . . .
Gauldar
Sep 7th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Pfft. Analog porn will never die, and the Internet gave Rick Astley’s career back. The later is completely off topic, yet I support it’s place in my paragraph!
WordyGrrl
Sep 8th, 2009 at 12:42 am
I agree with Marianne about the reading. I do read a lot online, but I’m not reading classical works of literature that would expand my mind anymore. Not like I used to when I was a book addict.

And how many more hours daily is your typical horndog guy devoting to online porn, now that he doesn’t have to actually go out and purchase a magazine or DVD from a clerk?

I love the internet, but it’s a mixed bag.
Lasse
Sep 8th, 2009 at 1:57 am
The singles vs. the album issue: My mothers record collection in the 1960´s only consisted of vinyl singles. And all she had was a tiny little record player optimated for singles. Most teens then had a stack of singles, or a booklet with singles but no albums (probably too expensive), a least here in Denmark.

And i for one still buy vinyl albums at a real life record shop, thank you very much (I also buy music online).
Skipweasel
Sep 8th, 2009 at 2:30 am
Polite disagreement is still alive in uk.rec.sheds, for example.
LisaL
Sep 8th, 2009 at 3:03 am
I love the internet….. *HUGS it mentally*
ted
Sep 8th, 2009 at 6:30 am
Yay! Another list.
Colin
Sep 8th, 2009 at 6:34 am
If by “destroy” this blowhard means “evolution in society for [the] good” then yes, the internet is “destroying” things making the world a better place. Sadly I doubt this world-class old stuffy arsehat meant it “destroy” as such, then again, the Daily Telegraph is (or was) a mostly paper based rag, so his livelihood is another thing being “destroyed,” so I guess I can understand his knee-jerkism.
tr
Sep 8th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Colin: What an eloquent confirmation of point #1.
Tempscire
Sep 8th, 2009 at 10:01 am
What the heck is the image they ran with that article supposed to be indicating?

Interestingly about #13, Memory… written word was looked down upon by ancient Greek orators.
bennnnn
Sep 8th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
The art of polite disagreement isn’t disappearing. Only an idiot would think that.
Tom McMahon
Sep 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Matthew Moore pompously starts out with #1, but it only takes him to #4 show what a pretentious phony he is. What a lame article.

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