http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/g ... net-765989
The quote got me started. Basically the article says that because of the proliferation of personal electonics... glasses, health bracelets and such that the individual will live in a virtual world, and interact with others by your own permission.Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Thursday predicted the end of the Internet as we know it.
At the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his comments were webcast, he was asked for his prediction on the future of the web. “I will answer very simply that the Internet will disappear,” Schmidt said.
The part that got to me, though, was the projection that the 40% of the world that has internet access wil grow rapidly in the future. Along with that... the next step that opened the door to some wider thoughts:
So women are empowered! That's great... and that starts the thinking process...Sandberg and Schmidt lauded the Internet as an important way to give more people in the world a voice. Currently, only 40 percent of people have Internet access, the Facebook COO said, adding that any growth in reach helps extend people’s voice and increase economic opportunity. “I’m a huge optimist,” she said about her outlook for the industry. “Imagine what we can do” once the world gets to 50 percent, 60 percent and more in terms of Internet penetration.
She cited women as being among the beneficiaries, saying the Internet narrows divides.
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So if the internet empowers women... what about THE PEOPLE????
I look around and see older people like me, who are living their lives, passively. We can't change the world. Our votes count for little, after the election. We smile, and hope for the best.
Bad enough... but then I look at my kids, now in their 50's, but aside from voting, feeling just as much disenfranchised as me... watching and reading the news... pleased or angry as one side or another of the current crisis is presented.
So who is making the policy? Who is making the decisions? Who are they listening to? To ease the pain, we typically watch or read the liberal, conservative or progressive viewpoints... just to keep the blood presure down. What do we (the "most people" we) do to affect change? Aside from the few who will call or write the decision makers... almost nothing.
What if... the internet became a place to formally "vote"... or "choose"... or "agree or diasagree"... with a "poll result" page. Simplistic? Not workable? Can't be done? Hmmm... maybe.
In his 1974 book Computer Lib, Ted Nelson connected computer use with political freedom with the rallying cry "Computer power to the people! Down with the cybercrud." Forty years ago... Not there yet. Still millions... billions... trying to be heard. Some reach a few thousand, or a few hundred thousand others, but what if... the people could be empowered with a central, formal site to ensure their voice is heard.
Women power a start, but why not a one voice, one vote.. "sense of the people".