'or every negative you can find, as in the few posts above more positives exist.'

Good stuff Belly.

I see a few scared old men here.

H thanks, I am an olds bloke, no idea why but at 67 I feel half that.
Living on my own for the near last 30 haws kept me young.
I have faith in the young, a great deal.
They say a gene exists that leads to grumpy old men,our last years are not time to spend being unhappy.
Just saw face books profits 286 million!think I read in in a British paper so not sure if its dollars or pounds.
Shame more teaching for oldy,s to use the net is not available, I am bringing a few on, but need the training myself.
Bringing on? I mean teaching to e mail read papers and research, that hooks them the rest follows.
Print media?
Some out back dunny,s will need a different paper.

Writing in the sand has had it's day.

Writing on stone has had it's day.

Writing on paper has almost had it's day.

Guess what?

Writing on the internet WILL eventually have had it's day too.

The "real" question is .... What will replace the internet?

My prediction is that within 50 years the internet will be considered ancient, inefficient and a past technology .... interesting only from an historical perspective.

Within 200 years I predict we will be writing only within our brains, and we will be communicating with anyone, anywhere, anytime via direct brain to brain technology. Our brains will be initially implanted, and eventually biologically altered, to enable this. Communication "machines", and old time carrier methods, will be a thing of the past, relegated to ancient history.

I'm 81 years old and run my own small IT business .... BRING ON THE FUTURE.

DP here in our history in OLO we can, without digging too much find a fear like rejection of the NBN and change in general
I offer this link
http://www.smh.com.au/business/intelligent-investor/why-nbn-will-kill-the-tv-networks-20121022-280vn.html
To support the threads intended path, print media is in crisis.
And to highlight why.
You and I will not see what comes after the net, but we have seen the whole thing grow from the 486 to todays and we can smell tomorrows changes but not know, even guess what it will be.
I would have one hope, that those who do not share my views here in this thread read the link.
Information is my drug, I crave it.
But so many seem to sit on opinion,unwilling to learn and growth, in our final years, middle age was surely not later than 45? we prosper by growing still.

Diamond Pete

<<Within 200 years I predict we will be writing only within our brains>>
But wouldn’t that put Green voters at a distinct disadvantage –they’d be left out of most conversations.
I can see the Greens of 2080 campaigning hard for subsidized brain implants to bring their voters up to par with the rest of the community.

On a serious note though, you surprise me on two counts. I can’t believe you are 81. I had you pigeon holed as a 40 something,
And I agree almost entirely with your take on the communications revolution.

With satellite dishes you can, even today, tune into any number of oversea TV or radio channels. And you can use that to update yourself with science & technology, or , you can watch some Mullah rave on about the joys of Islam. It will be a great waste and pity if the NBN's primary usage was more downloads of the latest Psy hip hop or missed episodes of Modern Family.

Dear DiamondPete,

<<Within 200 years I predict we will be writing only within our brains, and we will be communicating with anyone, anywhere, anytime via direct brain to brain technology.>>

Good for you, being 81 you will not need to suffer this. Me too fortunately I won't be around to witness.

Assuming those living 200 years hence will have faster an easier ways to communicate, will they also have that much more to say, that much wisdom to share? or will they simply be able to disturb others even more with their babbling nonsense?

Remember that when communicating, at least half the time you are on the receiving side!

The slight effort required when putting things on a physical form such as paper, means that you need to think first, to consider WHAT you are going to write, is it worthwhile, whether you really mean it and hopefully also try to check and make sure that it will not hurt the reader.

Can't you see that this whole technology thing is not about comfort but all about survival, trying to squeeze even more billions of humans on this tiny planet - and if in the process they will not even remain as much human, as you suggest brain implants and/or biology-altering drugs, don't you wonder what is the point of this exercise?