Had people been left to react as they felt necessary then surely things would have taken longer to evolve - I recall listening to 5 Live and a conversation about why deflation was not good for the economy. I didn't realise that if prices come down then people hang on to their money waiting for a better deal meaning a stagnant economy and longer recession. The effect it had on me was that I should hang on to my money because there were deals to be had later down the line. I changed my behaviour due to information provided by my continual interaction with the net. The more discussions the more doomed it seemed we were, whilst all the while money hadn't seemed to have got much tighter - ignorance was bliss.
The other aspect that the Internet played was speed of information - news broke in America that took months to have a real impact. It was coming and went through a crazy, extreme cycle of events, but I wonder if it wasn't really known whether governments and the public might have done things a little differently. We got updates on every single aspect of the money markets, twitter grew into a mobile space and then news took an injection in terms of delivery. Now when there was a fire in a pub in Soho a couple of weeks ago - twitter picked it up and within 10 minutes though I was in Kent I knew about it - powerful stuff. The death of Micheal Jackson, the reporting around the mysteries, the grief - all delivered in super quick time where ever you are. These all combine to magnify any natural feelings, meaning the power of the Internet and it's genuine potential to move people and change their behaviour is one that is going to bring extreme highs and low in terms of its effect in the real world.
It is probably the merging of the digital space with our real space that is the interesting space - how that battle is fought, what it will be used for - if you think about it, the power of harnessing the Internet is now proven and so it could be used as a force for good - projects around social inclusion, helping improve lives in so many great ways. Alternatively it could become a force of control - modifying behaviour, providing dark connections and invading people's lives like the TV of today.
Maybe the point is both can co-exist and prosper, which means we are five steps into a five mile walk in terms of what connecting people through technology means and where it will lead. As our children (who have never known a world without the Internet) have their turn in control it will evolve beyond our considered opinions. Like our grandparents before (who remember a world before televisions) our time is now - we got the period of development, the frontier to expand and to some degree the most fun - a new technology, no rules, opportunity. In years to come regulations will be put in place, barriers put up and the opportunities dominated by corporate giants. On the massive plus side the creativity and collective brain power will move the technology where it needs to go.....quickly
So be prepared for higher highs, lower lows, more caution with amazing developments - from WAP phones to 3G to iPhone in 8 quick years....all on steroids and I can't wait.
