Internet 2000 The Year

Life Has Gone Virtual

Net Prophet is a twice monthly column about the World Wide Web and internet for Michiana readers.

King David of the Hebrew Bible is one of the most remarkable leaders in history. Still, a lot of people don't know how good David really was. Did you know that he led the Hebrew armies in victory against an enemy much more technologically advanced than David's soldiers were?

The Phillistines progressed into the steel age when the Hebrews had only mastered iron age weapons. Of course, the Bible reports God helped David out a lot. Clever David also helped himself out by serving as a Phillistine general during his younger days. He was familiar with Phillstine battle procedures.

A lot of businesses and individuals today are facing the same problem David and the Hebrews experienced against the Phillistines. If you haven't noticed the shift already look around. We've moved from the material age into the virtual age. This has happened so quickly, about over the last four years thanks the to internet and the World Wide Web, that many folks don't realize or understand what the changes are about.

I spent a couple of hours recently trying to explain it all to my 67 year old mother recently. Without, I'm afraid, much success. I'll see if I can do any better for our readers.

Let's start with the local public library for example. I'm a library junkie. A few years ago I had to visit my local library at least several times a week or go into withdrawal pains. Now the World Wide Web is my library. I seldom visit our local public library at all anymore. My reading, learning, and news binges are fulfilled over the internet.

The local public library is a great place. But, because it exists in the material era, it costs a lot to build and keep going. It's limited as to what it can provide by it's physical space and the revenue needed to keep it going. It takes a major effort to update, remodel, or expand such a library. And its books, magazines, and other resources are stuck in time has soon as they are printed. All confines of existing in the material world and age.

There are virtual libraries all over the internet. (For a recent report on the internet as library link to Internet As New University Library.)With a little effort individuals can even build their own by linking to different resources on the Web. Because virtual libraries exist with very little assistance from material objects, the cost housing and updating this information is dirt cheap. A virtual library can be expanded at little extra cost. It can also be updated almost instantaneously 24 hours a day. Because it costs much less to produce and store information this way, more resources can be devoted producing information, and much less resources need be used to house the product. In other words more money and resources are focused on people and less on material.

That's why a virtual book selling company like Amazon.Com, is worth more on the stock market today than Sears And Roebuck. Sears has over 1,000 department stores all over the world. Amazon.Com has yet to even turn a profit. Investors, however, believe that very soon Amazon.Com will be making more profit than Sears. Even though Amazon.Com exists basically only on the internet.

What will living in the virtual age mean? Communication, information, and commerce are now a second away 24 hours a day. Within the next year or two almost 50 percent of American households will go online into the virtual era with one or more net connections in their family. (78% in two years according to a recent Jupiter Communications report.) Not long after that as many people will go virtual as use telephones. From the pump at the gas station to the cell phone in your car, just about everything will be connected to the virtual world.
Last Monday AT&T announced the development of a super chip which will give a cell phone the power of 5 present day computers within about three or four years. These phone-computers will be activated and controlled by the human voice. They will, of course, be connected to the Internet.

Virtual age winners: New virtual businesses started up in the home offering everything from product sales to expert services. Existing large and small businesses which figure out how to expand themselves into virtual commerce. Families who use virtual tools responsibly and encourage their children into the virtual age.

Virtual age losers: Businesses large and small, especially local, that don't wisely study and invest in virtual development. Families that replace abusive TV watching habits with abusive web using habits. Families that think getting their kids just a public education will prepare them for the rapid, and endlessly, changing world ahead.

With the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the virtual age, we could all use prayer.

-Monty Keeling
March 1, 1999

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