First of all, History on the Web has been really interesting all semester because it made me think about something that I use every day in a whole new way: from a historian’s perspective. I use the Internet and technology every day, whether it’s for school research purposes or just to crush some candies on Candy Crush. The aforementioned examples of how I use the Internet and technology go to show how vast the opportunities are; I could be productive all day by researching intellectual information, or play mindless games for pure enjoyment. The possibilities are endless, but it’s all about how you utilize the information available to you. What’s the point of digitizing everything if no one will use it or gain from it? There needs to be an audience, and as long as there is an audience then digitization will continue to grow.
After reading the chapter written by Thomas and Johnson, three things really sparked my thinking. First, the fact that people think that digitizing will make documents last forever, but that is simply not true. I too thought that digital records would be invincible, but as Thomas and Johnson point out that is not the case. Digital records are at risk of being lost forever if a system were to crash and lose all information within it. Furthermore, as technology continues to progress, old technologies will become obsolete. Therefore, as Thomas and Johnson mentioned, how will future generations access information on a CD-ROM if they do not have a system to run it? I never really thought about these issues before, but it shows just how fragile digital records truly are even though most of us think that digitizing records means that they are safe.
Secondly, Thomas and Johnson bring up the fact that paper products are not necessarily dying out, but rather evolving. One example of this that they use in the chapter is the evolution of books from paper products to electronic e-books that can be read on e-readers. In this digital age, many consumers want something easy and accessible. Thus, instead of going to the library to get books and having the daunting task of returning them on time, readers can download books in the convenience of their own home at the push of a button. Therefore, paper books may one day become obsolete, but books will live on through electronic devices. So it’s not that paper products are necessarily becoming extinct, it’s just that they are evolving with the ever changing technological advances.
Lastly, along with the evolution of products, the mediums are changing as well. In the past, if you wanted to talk to someone you generally had to write a letter and mail it, which could take days or weeks to reach the recipient. However, now there are many ways in which people can communicate. For example, the letter still exists, but the medium is different now: instead of mailing a piece of paper you can email an electronic letter using a computer or smartphone. The premise is still the same, but the medium in which you send the letter is different, not to mention faster and more convenient. The downfall of this, however, is that technology is resulting in loss of jobs, which is evident in the Canada Post industry because more emails equals less letters and less letters/mail equals loss in jobs for post workers.
Finally, Weller’s conclusion really made me think about one thing: the fact that the Internet and open access has given anyone the ability to learn and search information. Weller mentions how Thomas Carlyle suggested that “in a certain sense all men are historians”. I find this to be true because there is so much information on the Internet that makes it easier for anyone to conduct research and learn. I think that this may lead to an altered education system in the future because it seems silly to spend thousands of dollars on an education when people could gain just as much, if not more, knowledge on their own from the comfort of their home. Obviously, one cannot get a degree from sitting at home, but it goes to show how the elite hold control over the education system because anything we learn in a classroom can be learned from the Internet. It will be interesting to see where the Internet and technology will take us, because it has already impacted our lives so much and it will continue to do so for future generations.
