What have we lost since we all began carrying little TV sets around in our pockets? A little attention span — maybe a lot of attention span — an ability to sit and think and contemplate — an ability to enjoy being alone and quiet. Entertainment and knowledge and all the rest at our fingertips — we are connected and simultaneously all alone in our little hive mind — we are the Borg. We have been assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Orwell was prescient, except the telescreen is a pocket device, not a TV on the wall.
I confess I do enjoy being able to call up an old song seconds after remembering it. I knew the world had changed in 1999 (I think it was) when I helped our sports editor find the season stats for the third-leading scorer on the Eastern Illinois women’s basketball team in less than two minutes. We figured this internet thing was going to change our lives. Little did we know!
If — or perhaps when — the web ever collapses, generations will be lost, anxious and confused.
Interesting words: A web is a trap spiders use to capture their meals. A screen is something that blocks our view.
