Is the internet revolution overrated?

>telegraphs existed since 1800s
>telephones existed since 1800s
>Bank Wire transfers existed since 1800s
>Television existed since the early 1900s
>CB and Ham radio existed since the early 1900s
>Fax machines existed since early 1900s

It seems the internet just improved on existing technology. Often I hear the internet allowed people to "communicate instantly all over the world" but that was already possible with previous technologies. Most of the things people do with the internet are derivative of things people were already doing.

I'm sure telegraph operators played games of chess over the line in the 1800s. That was "online" gaming.

CB Radio Enthusiasts had been chatting with one another in "rooms" for years before internet chat rooms existed.

You could call companies and order things over the phone via mail catalogs.

Fax machines and teletypes let you send and receive documents.

What has the internet really brought in that's new?

Other urls found in this thread:

economist.com/node/2281736
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondratiev_wave
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

On demand access of archived information

The internet made an audience for anyone, not only for those who are liked by the mass media.

Bots included

So?

this.
Yes and no. Found an interesting and totally relevant article, a must read economist.com/node/2281736

Which previous technology allowed me to watch your mom masturbate live from her bedroom while I jack off in my bedroom?

the technology of not being a beta faggot

ebin le maymay redditor XD

wtf
downvoted and reported

There are these things called books, user.

And the alphabet has existed since the 27th century BC and formal logic since the 4th. What's your point?

I know, I have instant access to MILLIONS of them from my internet connection

None, but I don't consider that to be much of an important thing to be able to do.

A lot of the pride in the internet seems to stem from giving peasants the opportunity to engage in frivolity.

You had access to the public library and its inter-library loan system before that. If you lived in a decent sized city literally millions of books were in public libraries for you to peruse at your whim.

>What has the internet really brought in that's new?
You mean, in a sense of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondratiev_wave ?

I'm just curious, OP, are you astronomically retarded or just trying to do a gatcha about how bad Sup Forums is at articulating things?

Because I mean I can articulate the significance of micro-transistor computers, the modern communication network infrastructure, and the lithium-ion battery, but I don't feel like typing it all out if you're just retarded.

The internet gave everyone a gigantic everlasting dumping ground for their thoughts, good and bad. Too bad you need acres of energy sucking supercomputers to wade through all the trash.

>What has the internet really brought in that's new?
on-demand, two-way, automated access to any kind of information

>telegraphs
point to point, human operated, sound-only
>telephones
point to point (mostly), human operated, sound-only
>Bank Wire
not very familiar with this
>Television
one-way (receive-only), sound+video only
>CB and Ham radio
broadcast-only (no point to point), information types transmittable limited until closer to the horizon of the internet, previously sound-only
>Fax machines
same as telephone, only still image-only

the internet allows for any kind of digital information to be requested in a purely automated fashion
automation (or computerization) is the key difference, i think. you can do your banking, look up product information, and so on without needing a human to be on the other end at that time or at all

>Inter-library
So several weeks of waiting for the information compared to immediate access.
>Library at all
So minutes to hours depending on location of driving and minutes of searching compared to immediate access.
Hmmmm... What to pick?

>telegraph
>sound

>sound-only

Hmmm...not really. You can send documents over this technology as long as you have an operator, and there are ways to automate this process with machines. At least in regards to the telephone or telegraph.

Theoretically you could transmit "digital" images over these lines.

you catch more flies with shit on Sup Forums ;^

Is the automobile overrated?

>walking existed since the dawn of time
>mounting animals existed since pre history
>carriages existed since pre history
>trains existed since 1700s

It seems the automobile just improved on existing technology. Often I hear the automobile allowed people to "go from point A to point be on land" but that was already possible with previous technologies. Most of the things people could do with the automobile are derivative of things people were already doing.

I'm sure walkers also had drag races in 10 000BC.

Horse enthusiasts had been breeding better animals for years before forced air induction

You could received packages and mail from carriages.

Train owners would rice their rides too.

What has the automobile really brought in that's new?

>>Television
>>one-way (receive-only), sound+video only

Not true. Very few people had access to it but there was live video teleconferencing before the internet.

>want information
>use google and get it in 2 sec

OR
>walk to library
>talk to librarian
>wait a few days
>a relevant book arrives
>information you wanted is not inside

This entire thread is shit. Comparing telegraphs, telephones and books to the internet is dumb and not even close. Sure they led to the internet in concept but nothing comes close in reality.

has anyone ever transmitted ASCII porn over a telegraph?

>Implying formal logic was invented and not discovered
DELET

I remember that using a spectrograph (I think that's the correct term) some imageboard-like services operated over certain radio frequencies. Obviously low quality ascii-like images, but nontheless