How could a Newsweek.com article from 1995 be one of the most viewed and emailed stories of the week? You can attribute that to the power of Digg. But what is less important than how it became so widely viewed is WHY. The article is a fascinating glimpse into our technology past, to a time when skeptics such as Clifford Stoll thought the internet was an overhyped innovation never destined to be integrated into our everyday lives.
"Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works."
12 years later and we have RSS, Amazon Kindle, e-courses, social networks, wikis, the list goes on and on. A search for "Battle of Trafalgar" instantly brings up Wikipedia, BBC History, and britishbattles.com.
It makes you wonder what other sneered at fads of today will be the ultimate tools of tomorrow.
Marta Strickland
Strategists & Planners
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