Big Think

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Question: How has technology transformed us?

Jason Kottke: I think people are just so much more connected than they used to be.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing necessarily.  You can . . . you can talk to anybody you want in . . . in 10 seconds or less from wherever you are in the world.  Well not . . . not wherever you are, but most places.  And you know that’s kind of an amazing thing.  Like before you went to Europe, it was like a boat ride took two weeks and you were in Europe!  And letters took two weeks back on the boat.  And you know you couldn’t communicate with people like that.  And I just think that that type of communication and the communication that you get on the Web was just sort of this archived communication.  You have instant communication, plus you have access to all the communication that has ever gone . . . potential access to all the communication that has ever gone on between humans ever.  That’s a crazy . . . that’s a crazy thing to have access to.  And if it doesn’t change the world, you know what the hell . . . what the hell is?

Recorded on: 10/9/07