Internet Dependency

[danalwyn]

Been on vacation, then sick. Haven't been around much.

Had an interesting experience with internet dependency this week. Usually when I'm thinking about things that can be bought, I use the internet to research them, even when I'm doing the mental equivalent of window shopping. However this week I was considering a service that simply isn't rated on the internet, no reviews, no nothing. And I was totally stumped. For thousands of years people were able to purchase things without instantly looking up a list of reviews and product specs. They were doing it just twenty years ago. And now, two decades later, I feel lost without access to in-depth fields of information.

This isn't one of those "kids these days" reminiscent walks through some good ol' days that never happened. We expect all kinds of things these days, flush toilets, electric lighting, indoor heating, emancipation, that sort of thing. It's not all bad. It's just amazing how fast I've become expectant that I will be able to find a huge parcel of information, and how odd I feel without it.

Comments

[silverjackal]

I've had this experience, too. I'd be considering patronizing a business, look them up and think "Why don't they have a website? How can they not have a website?" It's certainly an advantage to the consumer, but there are still massive gaps where some fairly necessary things (like automotive dealerships) don't have accurate or current reviews. (One place I looked when I was considering buying has shill reviews that are so ingratiating it's nauseating. That tells you something about the company, yes? Particularly since their service was awful, and I would not have bought from them based on that alone. Seeing the sickeningly sweet positive reviews was particularly galling.)

[danalwyn]

It is sort of weird I've noticed, how easy it's become to be dependent on internet information for all of our major purchases and decisions. All that information at our fingertips has become somewhat addictive.