What is the Internet For (2001)

Rudy Limeback, a fellow I think very highly of, asked me to post this to my site somewhere. It was prompted by a simple question posted by the head lemur on the webdesign-L list, a mailing list for web developers. And so, here it is.
-Joe
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 15:39:49 -0700
Subject: Re: [WD]: pop quiz
From: Joe Crawford <jcrawford@...>
To: <webdesign-l@...>
List-Help: 	<http://webdesign-L.com/>


on 5/12/2001 2:23 PM, the head lemur wrote:

> What is the internet for?

<literary src="Neuromancer" author="William Gibson" >
 "A consensual hallucination experienced
  daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation,
  by children being taught mathematical concepts...A
  graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks
  of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable
  complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the
  mind, clusters and constellations of data, like city lights,
  receding...."
</literary>

<political>
It's the information tool of the man.
It's the information tool of the proletariat.
</political>

<personal>
It's where I met my wife. It's where I get my jobs. It's where I chronicle
myself. It's where I have met many friends.
</personal>

<devil's-advocate>
It's not *for* anything, But it can be used like a:
    printing press,
    church,
    town hall,
    dating service,
    support group,
    doctor,
    telegraph,
    telephone,
    bulletin board,
    scratchpad,
    storefront,
    library,
    post office,
    personal ad,
    pillory,
    gossip column,
    advertisement,
    corporate report,
    escape,
    water cooler,
    art gallery,
    biography,
    propaganda,
    lynch mob,
    map,
    television show,
    cave wall,
    and more.
</devil's-advocate>

<me>
I use it to try to make myself a net benefit rather than a net debit on the
planet.
</me>



    - joe crawford <https://artlung.com>



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