Sometimes I wonder if we get the internet. We, the people that have been lucky enough to see the internet. Do we get how big a shift the internet is? Or are we too early into this new era we have to take it in a bit at a time, lest it throws the balance we’ve built around ourselves off?
Information is so available it is mind blowing. Look at governance. Look how everyone can share stories. Look at education. Look especially at education? Learning has shifted so much any open mind that happens upon the internet can unleash itself to new levels of possibility.
We talk a lot about reduced barriers for learning and participation in the creation of things but do we really get how much possible this has become? Or are these just buzzwords we echo to pretend we appreciate new stuff yet we don’t understand and maybe are too afraid to embrace? If we did, where’s the stuff we’re creating? What better stuff have we built now that we can access the same information that the whole world does?
Mindest issue maybe? Stuck in the past where the world around us was designed for information that was closely guarded in silos. Designed for a “masses and elite” structure where you have to make into the elite to enjoy information. You had to be worthy of information first to access it.
Politics was built around this. Democracy just pretense. Mass media too. Education systems especially love the tradition of exclusion. All these have been disrupted of course but somehow we are taking too long to shift along.
Maybe it will take new generations who will embrace the new order for what it is and refuse to fit themselves into old ways. People that will share and learn ideas at a global stage without any inferiority complexes. And in future, some 50 years from now, they will look back at this information revolution and understand just how huge a shift we’re living through right now.
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“Designed for a “masses and elite” structure where you have to make into the elite to enjoy information.”
Ummm TZ this is still very true in Zimbabwe. How many average teens can access a 1hr HD Udemy video or other similar courses online without breaking the bank?…They’ll likely need $50 for the mobile data bundle and thats just one course out of many.
So will it take a new generation to embrace the internet? No. Will it take a new generation of affordable mobile data? Yes. Will that happen soon? In Zim, definitely not. Some may argue that companies like Zol and Umax are now affordable but $595 dollar setup costs or being in a UMAX coverage zone is terribly out of reach for the masses of this generation. Maybe its time this generation pushes the large operators to stop bleeding them dry but I see that being a fruitless battle as they are too many blind sheep listening to the hoopla from these ISPs as to why Zims internet has to be so expensive.
It wont take a new generation! People are already embracing the internet. But it does not take one day to change habits. The internet is alive and for the slow embracing of internet is caused by politics and the unfortunate fact that we are poor… we cant run away from that
the critical issue is the internet available to all. if the barrier to accessing the internet is prohibitive for the masses to be in a position to use the internet then we are faced with the same class struggle.
The very day that internet becomes universally available to all at an affordable amount then can we talk of the revolution that the internet being realised in all sectors of the economy.
People are already embracing the Internet, one app at a time. Things like WhatsApp, Facebook and even Email are revolutionary by themselves. They might not be the ‘web’, but they definitely are gateway drugs to it. (web is a subset of the internet, for those who do not know)