The End is Near! Don't look it up.

A visit to my local library today turned up something very interesting.  A poster by the front door showed in large red letters that the Internet was a terrible option to having a library.  Looking at the comments made here were confusing from a technical view, and disgusting from a common sense point of view.  The poster made points to its case by making claims such as “The information on the internet is not new, it is 15 years old!” and “You cannot curl up next to a warm fire with a laptop.”  There were a few worthwhile notes on here such as the fact that the internet is not complete, and that there are some things that a library would have on hand that one would have to pay for on the internet. 

However, the points made here are ones that would pray on the ill-informed and the paranoid observer.  People who still believe that the computer is part of the future and is still Science Fiction.  Or those who think that the computer is something that can only be used by those with Master Degrees in Mathematics.  The truth of the matter is that computers are quickly becoming one of the things that more and more people each day are becoming used to.  With the advent of simple to use smart phones such as the iPhone and tablets that do not require any but the most basic understanding of following instructions, the computer is something that more and more people are coming to understand.  Like any other tool throughout history the easier it is to use, the more people who will use it.

Will the internet replace the library?  Those who believe that the Government is out to get them and that computers are the work of the devil would have you believe that it will.  But think on this;  it is a simple matter to open up a browser and search Google for the stats for the 1996 Baseball Season.  However to find this information in a library normally one would look up the location of the book in a computer (oh the irony of this) that would have the information, and then physically pull that book off the shelf.  Then find the information contained within, which could take a few minutes. 

Want to know who did what and when they did it?  The internet can tell us in about thirty seconds flat.  And with the advent of phones that all most every person now caries having the internet on it, anyone can look up anything almost anywhere.  Want the latest novel by a favorite author?  It is available at the library for free, subject to availability.  For a fee, one can download the book the day it comes out and not even leave their bed. 

The real truth here is this, that no one can know what will happen in the near future with the technology that we have today.  There was a time when radio was thought to be dead once every home had a TV, and yet it is still widely available to all.  Despite On Demand services that allow movies to be watched at home, Theaters are still popular and people still flock there on the weekends.  Just because something is new does not mean that it will replace, rather that it will simply add to what is already there.