Did you know?

By : Scott Merrill on March 25, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

A friend sent me this video today that sparked some interesting lines of thought. I’ve been online since the early 90s, so I often lose sight of just how rapidly things have advanced, and how deeply the Internet — and technology in general — has changed all of our lives. Just think: “If MySpace were a country, it would be the fifth largest country in the world” and “Today, the number of text messages sent and received every day, exceeds the total population of the planet.”

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It took radio 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million, but it took the iPod only 3 years, and FaceBook only 2 years. In part this is due to reduced manufacturing and distribution costs, as well as an overall advance in the general standard of living for people in developed nations; but there’s more to it than just that. I mean, the iPod doesn’t demonstrable improve one’s life: it’s a luxury good, not some fundamentally necessary thing like clean drinking water. Facebook is as much a fun diversion from the workday as it is a fundamental change in the way we communicate with peers and colleagues.

It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

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