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Monday 3 December 2012

The Super Highway

Will future ages say of us
we were a new line of descent:
Arachnid Man who blanketed
the world in wonder webs?
If so, no wonder, they might think,
the world became so heated underneath!

Or will they call us Link Age Man,
and realise that all those threads
were Fred and Ethel, Jim and Beryl
trying to connect?

Ours is the Age of Connectivity --
and not of information, as we're taught.
Connecting has for ages
been what's super cool --
it does not matter much with what, to whom:
the globe is but a super room
where we can chat our stuff...
But you think not?

Well, things are changing slowly, so I hear...
the super-highway has been mugged,
become a tad less info' and touch 
more Hi ya Pal! --  With very little info'
kicked around... raw information
isn't what the kids are all about.

The web, some say, does for society
what our connective tissue does for us:
it binds, supports and keeps apart 
the body parts that otherwise would jar.
If we should lose the internet --
by some default of use, let's say -- society
would suffer all those stiff and painful joints.

Yet I was reading only yesterday
how youthful sections of the global population
now think the web is naff.
It's a Dad Thing, they will say.
Or worse: A Wrinkly Thing -- of course,
they still connect, web-wise, in other ways!

But if the Not Cool label sticks,
if others take it up,
the viewpoint spreads,
the web might just become
man's last big thing --
Perhaps we'll end up as the End Time Man!

..............................................
It is twenty years since the first text was sent.

17 comments:

Jenny Woolf said...

I wonder what people use instead of it. Personal contact? (gasp) what an idea!

Brian Miller said...

ha, you are the early sooth sayer with this....smiles...i am sure it will become obsolete at some point, everything does and ten years from now we will look back and laugh at how silly it was as our virtual reality stems hum, hooked in the back of or skulls...

Anonymous said...

Very interesting points! Man is pretty driven to communicate. What's happened now in a way is that people can be alone connected and all the old community things stressed or dying out. Maybe the young will shake hands again! Walk arm in arm! (Instead of phone to phone.) I wish, but kind of doubt.

Your point re info so right. Often the same bit of content is just kicked around and around and around. Crazy.

I love Arachnid Man! k.

Anonymous said...

ps - amazing that something that could be so informative (and is at times) has so much energy spent on "whassup?" ha! k.

ninotaziz said...

Do we have the time to wait and see...great thoughts.

Tabor said...

I like that I can touch old friends...although many have real lives and do not spend time on Facebook as I do. I remember my sons friend when I befriended him being a little dismayed that all us oldies were invaded the social web. Something will replace it, I am sure.

Daydreamertoo said...

Amazing isn't it. I've often wondered now if or how we would ever cope without being 'online' anymore. I was thinking we've now raised a generation of internet addicts. But, I wonder what it will all look like in 20 years from now. what we think of as high tech now will seem so old fashioned then.
Enjoyed this Dave.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Great, tremendous reflection of a poem. Once more I feel the great forefathers behind it, the superb tradition of metaphysics in poetry, the wit, that spark John Donne brought.

nicolewian said...

Sometimes I wish the not cool label would stick :)

Mary said...

A truly amazing post, Dave. 20 years since the first 'text' was sent. Oddly, I still know people who resist both text messages and some who even don't get into email. I remember my first Apple 11 e when I thought I had something that was the state of the art. Sigh! You always keep us thinking, Dave.

Elephant's Child said...

I am still (dinosaur that I am) resisting some of the connectivity available (Facebook and twitter leap to mind). I relish my time when I am connected to the here and now or, when reading to the then and there or the perhaps and maybe.

Given the number of people who fear spiders Arachnid Man has a lot of charm - thank you.

Brian Miller said...

i thought maybe i had missed you this morning...used to seeing you first thing and all...so just popped in to check...hope you have a great day dave

Cloudia said...

Always evolving beyond expert's predictions and explanations . . . nice dancing into the future with friends like you, D-



Happy Aloha from Honolulu
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David Cranmer said...

Great thoughts indeed, Dave.

Ygraine said...

Personally, I believe it is our learning tool, the herald of the age of telepathy!
I mean, where else can we go from here?! Hehe:D
Ps, I love Arachnid Man!!

Dave King said...

Jenny
Now there's an original thought! Phew!

Brian
Me sooth sayer? Yes, me like. Much ta! I'm sure you're right, at some time we, or those who follow, will look back and think how sillY! I wonder how long that will take, though...

Manicddaily
Well, I will join you in the wish. We can but hope. Thanks for it.
Yeah, I do agree, of course, that the web can be - often is - informative.

ninotaziz
Maybe not. Thanks for your visit and comment. It's great to welcome you.

Tabor
Mmm, I have not fallen to Facebook or Twitter yet, but I feel it coming! We now get a lot of info' about younger members of the family through such sites - but it's the older members who are doing the posting, not the kids themselves.

daydreamertoo
Do you know, I don't think we have. We did, but not now. I think the kids have raised a dad and granddad generation of internet addicts! Yes... 20 years on? I wonder!

Tommaso
Which makes me wonder what the great Donne would have made of the web etc etc.
Thanks for this.

nicolewian
Hi! A warm welcome to you. Thanks for visiting and for your thoughts. Good to have you aboard.

Mary
Never had an Apple boo hoo! Remeber some of those early machines, though, mostly using them for teaching. The web came much later for me. I'm not a texting addict even now, nad going off emailing a tad - being blocked has not helped! My wife texts quite a lot. Maybe if I didn't have her i would have to... Thanks for your thoughts.

The Elephant's Child
Me too, though I'm weakening!
See your point re Arachnid Man!
Thanks for these thoughts. All grist to the mill...

Brian
Ah, I went AWOL yesterday - for all the right reasons. Thanks for your good wishes - and thanks for your support.

Cloudia
I second that . Thanks for the light fantastic.

david
Thanks for saying so.

Ygraine
Will it be our fault what future generations make of us, do you think?




Cait O'Connor said...

I think that in the future this era will become The Internet Age. I am grateful for it (but not for everything that is around in these times),