Notes by Ken Kozar on Clifford Stoll's Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, Anchor Books, 1995.

1. The WWW doesn't provide REAL experiences.

• you can't be at the Superbowl by watching it on TV
• would the WWW replace a trip to Europe?

2. The WWW is full of unedited drivel.

• many authors, few editors

3. The WWW will not cure social problems.

• networks isolate (not like sitting on a porch and visiting)
• sewers have done more for people than cyberspace
• internet cafes allow interacting with those miles away while those in close proximity are ignored

4. Computers are hard to use/non-intuitive/buggy.

• DOS for Dummies must have meant the real dummies created it.
• software gets more features noone asked for
• modem has CTS (clear to send - or disconnected) DTR (data terminal ready - or ok) CD (carrier detect) , etc. - speak the user's language

5. Computers have short lives and the new may not be better.

• thrift stores will not take old computers
• software upgrades often add unused features

6. Computers dehumanize/depersonalize.

• people say it must be right, it came from a computer
• computers have no soul

7. Computers must positively affect the bottom line.

• networks support play at work
• much e-mail is junk mail
• computers and drugs both have "pushers" and "users"

8. The net is like CB radio.

• cheap, easy access, no license, and little value
• TV provides 3M bps and now we want to watch TV at 28.8K bps

9. Computers can't replace real life teachers.

• you need to experience things, interact, think (not memorize)
• back to the chalkboard?

10. E-mail is done with little thought and consists of terse segments.

• answer 50 real letters in one evening
• write, then think is the norm

11. Bookless libraries are a fallacy.

• volume is beyond our capacity to scan and convert to electronic media
• many other reading mechanisms have succumbed (paper tape, cards, and 8-track tape) but paper lives on
• we need searching by serendipity

12. The WWW attracts all kinds.

• "Get a real life."
• "Flame on."
• like finding romance in Alaska (odds are good, but goods are odd)
• internet is a digital dumpster

13. Electronic networks erode parts of our community. Meet your real neighbors!

Is it ironic that this appears on the web?

KK-11 February 1997