Re: Death of Paper

[David Jones/KSBEISD <David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- DATAHUB -dot- COM>]

Sure, retrieving information from the Internet may be easier (if you can find
it).

But both Internet and Library suffer from the same problem: someone else
decides what is available there. There is no guarantee that something (a file
or a book) you find there one day will be there the next. Doesn't matter how
long it's open, or how much it holds, etc. If what you want isn't there now
because some site administrator/librarian decided to trash the file/book you
need, the Internet/library is useless.

(Spoken as a victim of many librarians who disagree with me about what books
are valuable.)

JFOA.

David Jones, Technical Writer
David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- Datahub -dot- com
Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate

DISCLAIMER:
"I do not speak for my employer, my computer, or any other living thing."

From: dblyth @ qualcomm.com (David Blyth) @ Internet @ DATAHUB
Date: 03/28/96 08:38:32 PM
Subject: Death of Paper

I'm not going to be terribly dogmatic about my position (rather
difficult when you're not entirely convinced of it yourself).

>The library fallacy

Still, here's another perspective:

  o The Internet is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

  o The Internet uses up less space than a local library

  o The Internet contains a LOT more information than a local library

  o You don't have to leave your house to visit the Internet

  o The Internet contains things libraries don't (esp. applications)

What it boils down to is this: is it fundamentally easier and quicker
to retrieve technical information from the Internet or from a local library?

Just a thought.





David (The Man) Blyth
Technical Writer & Web Site Designer
Qualcomm

The usual disclaimers apply - I don't speak for QUALCOMM, they don't speak
for me....