The Web is Dead? Long Live the Internet?

Both sides to this article are very compelling. Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff do the job of saying their direct opinions. Anderson says that we are the ones to blame. We spend all day on the Internet but not the World Wide Web. The web has become in some cases overwhelming, an overload of information thrown at your face. However with new technology such as the iPod and iPad you are able to control what you view therefore making things less complicated and getting what you want. As Anderson put it, “Fast beats flexible.”(pg 5) He explains it as capitalism, people wanting control, someone creating an idea and then others coming up to a similar plan. However we want things to actually work. So in examples like Google, Facebook and Apple, they have become monopolies because no one can really compete with them. We could get music free but it would take too long so we buy songs for $1.29 on iTunes. It is more convenient this way. Anderson writes that when it comes to affecting the way new media is today we see it clearly. For example, with our iPod Apps to Twitter APIs they have a connection that is fast and easily controlled, which is just what we want. Anderson puts his argument clearly in his past paragraph, “It moved from your desktop to your pocket, the nature of the Net changed.”

Reading Michael Wolff’s article he clearly did not feel the same way. Instead of putting the blame on us, he pushes it towards to companies controlling the Web. Wolff says that the Web is dead because traditional media has the sense that people using the Web can use whatever they like but with newer concepts it is an all or nothing motto. He does not like the last idea. With some changes and support, the Web does not have to fade out. He blames these ideas on the people and websites that are started new media, Google, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. Google has stopped people from looking at different websites such as Amazon or Yahoo. Each of these websites offer different things, Google however offers all of it, at the same time. Wolff compares Google to Rome for the overall power it has. Facebook was once a small website that only people with email addresses could be accepted into. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook so it was a closed system, and that is what people have been drawn into. However by the time most people were finding out about it, anyone could join. Wolff states, “Facebook became a parallel world to the Web.” Facebook has allowed not only games and applications but also advertisements so people did not have to leave Facebook when they were online. Then there was Steve Jobs. Wolff brings up the fact that Jobs not only has two successful media businesses, iTunes and Pixar but also is known for his traditional media as well. The Apple Company “controls the look and feel and experience” (pg. 11) but also has the power from delivery of the product onto specific devises. As a result they control everything that goes on with other parties and always gets their cut from profits. Basically Wolff states that these companies have specifically designed and produced the experiences that last on customers. He says that before new media, people in the technology world did not understand media and traditional media did not concern itself with technology. We see a very different outcome now. Instead of these opposing sides, they have come together and produced a new relationship.