Warning: What follows is one of those "Kids today"/I'm getting old/"Tell us again about the early 90s, Auntie Jen" sort of rants. Sorry.
Today, I overheard a teenager complaining that she had a chemistry assignment to name the six most common elements, and she couldn't find the answer anywhere on the Internet. In her defense, she said she also looked in the dictionary.
Do schoolkids still go to the public library and use the Encyclopedia Brittanica? Seriously. The first thing I would have done was go to the library, go upstairs to the reference room, and reach for "E." I actually used to hang out at the public library. Back before there was an Internet, it's how semi-rebellious teenagers found out about things like witchcraft and anarchy. Plus my local library always had some weird modern art exhibit or another -- the pretentious comments in the guestbook were the best part. You ran into other kids you knew at the library. It was almost social. Great, now I sound old and nerdy. Anyway, it took me less than a minute with Google to find out that the six "bulk" elements are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus. So not only are today's teenagers using the Net for anything and everything, they're not necessarily even doing it right.
This ties in with something I was thinking about last night. Right before we pulled into the supermarket parking lot, the blues and jazz station played an Aretha Franklin song I liked and commented on. Rick identified it as an Elton John cover but couldn't name it. I made a mental note to websearch a lyric or two and "elton john" later so I could identify the tune ("Border Song.") Later, I wondered how on earth I would have found that information back in The Olden Days. I pondered for a minute and then it occurred to me: I would have called the radio station.
I still go to the library, but I no longer call radio stations. I no longer call much of anyone. I don't send or receive letters on paper, but I can go to Classmates.com and learn the political leanings and pet preferences of more than 100 people from my graduating class I never want to see again.
The Internet has given me more than it's taken away, but sometimes I wonder how much more.
Today, I overheard a teenager complaining that she had a chemistry assignment to name the six most common elements, and she couldn't find the answer anywhere on the Internet. In her defense, she said she also looked in the dictionary.
Do schoolkids still go to the public library and use the Encyclopedia Brittanica? Seriously. The first thing I would have done was go to the library, go upstairs to the reference room, and reach for "E." I actually used to hang out at the public library. Back before there was an Internet, it's how semi-rebellious teenagers found out about things like witchcraft and anarchy. Plus my local library always had some weird modern art exhibit or another -- the pretentious comments in the guestbook were the best part. You ran into other kids you knew at the library. It was almost social. Great, now I sound old and nerdy. Anyway, it took me less than a minute with Google to find out that the six "bulk" elements are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus. So not only are today's teenagers using the Net for anything and everything, they're not necessarily even doing it right.
This ties in with something I was thinking about last night. Right before we pulled into the supermarket parking lot, the blues and jazz station played an Aretha Franklin song I liked and commented on. Rick identified it as an Elton John cover but couldn't name it. I made a mental note to websearch a lyric or two and "elton john" later so I could identify the tune ("Border Song.") Later, I wondered how on earth I would have found that information back in The Olden Days. I pondered for a minute and then it occurred to me: I would have called the radio station.
I still go to the library, but I no longer call radio stations. I no longer call much of anyone. I don't send or receive letters on paper, but I can go to Classmates.com and learn the political leanings and pet preferences of more than 100 people from my graduating class I never want to see again.
The Internet has given me more than it's taken away, but sometimes I wonder how much more.
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