...the Internet (yes, I wrote it)

One of the first things I recall learning upon entering the collegiate realm was that “Internet” is a proper noun. Simply writing “internet” generates that nagging red line that Microsoft Word (or OpenOffice) loves to taunt us with.

I also recall an anecdote from Mr. Cobb concerning the Internet. He claimed that his father didn't use the Internet simply because he had “no use” for it. If he needed to know or remember something he would ponder it for a few days, and if that didn't produce results he'd make his way to the library.

It's a simple little story that's probably not uncommon among older generations.

Yet the tale of the elder Cobb crosses through my mind often, usually while I'm browsing Wikipedia. It's funny how Wikipedia has become the “dirty little secret” of the college classroom. You dare not speak its name while discussing research, that is unless you're prepared to endure the cries of “IT'S NOT AN ACADEMIC RESOURCE ANYONE CAN EDIT IT” from students and professors alike. They're right, too. Conversely, we all use it on our own, non-academic time. I don't know exactly what I'm getting at here, I guess it's just an observation.

Now, back to the Internet.

There's a fairly famous article out there that is common in Composition classes about how the Internet has “killed” academic research. I would agree, to the extent, which is why the Wikipedia tangent is somewhat relevant. I truly hope that the current slew of high school English teachers are beating kids over the head with rulers, or at least are beating the one's that try to directly cite the holy entity of Wikipedia. I also have faith that it's been beaten into the heads of our current Education majors and future teachers.

Otherwise, the future could look like this:

My Report on Barack HUSSEIN Obama (by Timmy the 9th Grader)

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii (Wikipedia). He is the 44th President of the United States (Wikipedia). He secretly hates America (HowBarackObamaWon.com). Also, RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL (RonPaulRevolution.com).

You get the point, I think.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the Internet is a big fat love-hate relationship.

By the way, I hate referring to the Internet as the “Internet.” Isn't it eerie that we have to remember to capitalize “Internet” sort of like we're taught to always capitalize “God?” Maybe it's just me. But it has become it's own deity, hasn't it?

I guess it's ironic that I'm bitching about the entity that allows me to post what I'm writing and allows you read it. That's fine, though. That's the “love” side of my relationship with the Internet.

I sort of had an epiphany today concerning the information superhighway (wow, I'm genuinely surprised “superhighway” doesn't warrant a spell-check error). I realize that books will most likely suffer the same fate as music at the hands of the mighty Internet. Depending on how you look at it, the Internet “killed” the music industry. Some might say was “revolutionized.” I see both sides of the coin. Album sales are abysmal, yes. But touring is where the money is at, really.

Although I still can't fathom why you'd buy a CD through iTunes opposed to a hard copy. It destroys the entity of the “album.” I want my jewel case. I want my cover art and my booklet (the Alone II booklet was practically an autobiography). I want something tangible. I want to have memories of my sophomore self, giddy with excitement, riding in the car with my brother to Best Buy to purchase our separate copies of Antics. I want to call my mom while at work asking her to check to see if K-Mart has Icky Thump because apparently nowhere else has put it on the shelves yet.

I don't want songs. I want an album. Yes, there's a difference.

Regardless, I fear that books will suffer the same fate. I will be the grumpy old man who spits on e-book readers. However, in this “green” age I understand that books seem somewhat impractical when the text could easily be put online (in Stephen King's On Writing he jokes about people complaining that the publication of one of his novels amounts to the demise of a small Canadian forest). Understandable, yes. Although I can't stand reading long fiction on a screen. That's my problem, though, and I'll have to come with terms with it in the future. That's the direction we're going in. It'll take a while, sure. But slowly we're seeing literary journals and periodicals making the transition from print to exclusively being online. I imagine the catalyst for all this will be when Apple and Microsoft invest go head to head in the e-book reader battle. I'm sure they will if they haven't already begun.

Although I must admit, I love me some Project Gutenberg.

Perhaps movies will be able to fight the good fight. Sure, streaming and downloading and piracy runs rampant, but I can't imagine it amounting to sustainable losses. That could just be my naivety, though.

But yeah, I don't know where I'm going with this. You've created a monster, Al Gore.