Accessibility is the
Key
Information on any organization around the world is now accessible
in minutes. Whether it’s a bed-and-breakfast in South Australia or
a massive group company in Japan, information about their products
and services is available around the clock.
Our
main contact is with Sydney, Australia. With the recent time changes
on both ends we now have a 16-hour time difference. When it’s 4:00
p.m. in Calgary it’s 8:00 a.m. the next day down under. With e-mail
capability we can function much more efficiently and effectively on
a daily basis.
A
Greater Connection
There is no doubt that .com has increased communication. Huge numbers
of people are spending large portions of their lives online in virtual
communities such as chat rooms or multiplayer gaming sites. E-mail
and the Internet have fundamentally transformed the way we communicate
with other people. The informality of e-mail makes it perfect for
quick informal exchanges. It doesn't require the time and effort of
a letter, and it is not as invasive as a telephone call.
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People Matter
We
consider it amazing that we can instantly send a message to someone
we never met in Australia (though we rarely do), and yet do we know
our neighbors on our street? I think the end result can be we become
more detached from the people that we should be having REAL relationships
with. The guy in the chat room could be... a girl? a serial killer?
a total phony? A personal visit is worth twenty phone calls, and one
phone call, actually hearing a person's voice, is worth fifty e-mails.
There
is an energy and sense of creativity that comes from communicating
face to face that in my opinion will never be captured by technology.
Information 
Communication
I
think Web sites definitely generate more information, but that's not
the same as more communication. It only becomes communication when
the information is taken in and understood by a real human being.
I
think it has increased the amount of information that can be accessed
or communicated. Unfortunately, I think it has not found a way to
effectively organize the information, causing information overload
for some of the simplest queries.
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