Analogue Musings

Times like this highlight how dependent I’ve become on the internet for information and reference sources. Our home internet connection has been down for the last 36 hours due to an unknown fault that is still being investigated, and in the wake of that we’ve been forced to undergo a refresher course on how to locate information in the absense of web access.

One of the greater examples of how far I’ve ventured from the analogue lifestyle is fact I didn’t have the slightest clue where the phonebook was, and when I did manage to find one discovered that it was 18 months old and fairly out of date.

This predicament has clearly highlighted how accustomed I’ve become to the immediacy, currency and depth of access to information that the internet now affords. While the phonebook has proven a useful backup option, it’s only as valuable as the accuracy of the information it contains – which in this case was not very current at all.

Certainly with the internet you have to contend with obsolete or incorrect information as well, however information is far easier to maintain online because it’s constantly evolving. When something is missing or incorrect you fix it or report it, and thus ensure the information is updated and available in a very short period of time. In some cases, for example using wikis or other online documents, you can even do this collaboratively.

You can’t do any of this in works that have been etched into the printed page. They are valuable in the sense they document snapshots in time, but not so effective in disseminating current information.

That said, when your modem bites the dust, or your intenet connection goes down, phonebooks still work.

Posted via email from Mike Bogle