LS 521 Sp 02
April 22, 2002
Silicon Snake Oil, by Clifford Stoll, is an
insightful look at the negative and positive aspects of computers and the
Internet on our society. Mr. Stoll raises
points throughout the book, which question how far-reaching and effective the
Internet can be. The book is designed
to make the reader think about our culture’s fascination with computers and the
Internet.
One of the author’s concerns is that the Internet isolates
people and cultures. He fears that the
use of computers as a means of communication will make people more impersonal
and that face-to-face interaction between people will be lost. This is true, as people come to rely more
and more on the convenience of e-mail, chat rooms, and instant messaging there
is no need to see the person you are communicating with. Technology has now made communication much
easier provided many opportunities for strangers to communicate who might not
have the chance to otherwise. But I
believe it is important that we can still relate to each other as people in a
machine-based world.
Mr. Stoll expresses concern about the vast amount of
information available through the Internet and the gulf that exists between information
and knowledge. It is true that the
Internet provides so much information that it is often times hard to tell what
information is accurate and what is not.
The author makes the point that much information on the Internet can be
outdated, misleading, and simply wrong.
Internet users need to be discerning about what they learn through the
Internet and know where the information they are reading is coming from, just
as they would with any other form of media.
Another interesting point made is how expensive and
difficult technology is to use, with continuous updates and advances flooding
the market. New computer platforms,
operating systems, and software are constantly changing, becoming bigger,
faster, better overnight (or so the marketers would have us believe). This makes it incumbent on the user to
commit the time and energy in keeping up-to-date with everything going on in
the world of technology. It is easy to
be cynical and believe that the large technology corporations are just as
interested in separating us from the cash in our wallets as they are in
improving our lives.
Silicon Snake Oil states that the computer is
over-relied upon to use as a tool. Mr.
Stoll argues that it is much easier to mechanical tools like rolodexes, filing
cabinets, address books, and paper folders.
He states that using the computer to solve such problems limits our
ability to recognize other solutions and we become too reliant on computers to
solve so many of our problems. He asks,
“which is the tool: the computer or the user?”
But I believe this is an area of our lives that computers and technology
has made much more efficient. Rather
than limiting our ability to seek alternative solutions, I feel the computer
offers us an almost unlimited resource for providing solutions for many of the
mundane daily tasks we have to endure.
To this reader, Mr. Stoll’s most poignant insights are how
he defends the need for books in our culture and the centerpiece of our
libraries. I cannot see books, as we
know them today, becoming obsolete.
People like the feel and experience that is “reading a book.” The tradition of the paperbound book will
continue to be carried on, I do not see digital books ever replacing the
comfort we have with turning pages in a book. Also, the cost of replacing books with digital versions would be
astronomical as well as impractical.
And no one today can say with certainty that he technology to read books
via computer will be the same a generation from now. The process of updating and perfecting this technology would be
too much of an imposition on the lives of readers.
Silicon Snake Oil provides a common sense approach
to computers and the Internet that makes the reader ponder all the changes that
technology has placed on our lives. Mr.
Stoll’s speculations cannot be dismissed out of hand, but should be considered
by all when considering the future of technology and the role it will play in
all our lives.