Media and Technology Paradigm - Internet vs Print - Essay Example

There are many voices that hold on to the ubiquitous belief that the ephemeral nature of information in modern times is only tangential to a singular aspect- source. The unchallenged power of a plethora of books, journals, and other sources of primary information is not in question here, rather the question lies in whether the internet and the new media superstructure have overtaken the conventional modes of information as in the case of print, radio, and television with relation to the speed of distribution and the scope of universal followership with one click.

The need for better information served faster to the multitudes craving for better and more efficient modes of information distribution has been the propelling factor in the unchallenged reign of the internet as a vital source of information, or misinformation as the case may be. The contentious issue facing the public at large is the possibility of the internet replacing books, journals, and even libraries in becoming the primary source of information. The net has also overtaken the traditional trusted source for news ie; TV. This was evident in the 9/11 attacks on the World trade center wherein there was a surge of ‘flash crowd’ on the net trying to get the information and details as they had no access to TV at their workplace. (NRC 2003) The last decade has been one filled with continuous innovation in the field of net technology and the growth of the use of the net has led to previously uncharted dimensions with the combining of the net, mobile, and computer technology to form an interlinked superstructure that dishes out news and information at a ‘same time basis. The only issue with this process of information sharing by the millions and billions of sources is creating a huge volume of misinformation as well. Books, journals, and research papers are products of years, sometimes lifetimes of study by experts in their chosen field. There are several measures of reviews and cross-reviews to ensure that this information is accurate and trustworthy. Thus they serve as proper primary sources whereas the net has the disadvantage of having information twisted depending on the polarities of the sources that upload it. Accurate information needs to be gleaned from sources that are reputable and books, journals rate high on the dependability scale. (Pam Hilts 2007)  There are several oppositions to this theory, the most of it being that the internet has evolved to achieve a modern paradigm wherein good information can be extracted from proper sources such as Government websites, news portals, and other trustworthy sources. Google, the numero-uno in IT-related services according to Fortune.com has pioneered several avenues to access authentic information via the ‘scholar’ and ‘books’ sections wherein the information can be looked up from the millions of peer-reviewed journals and books in its database.

Thus the criticism of the internet as an unreliable source is actually consequential on the human factor downloading the information as well as the sources they are using to get that information. The fact is in the end even internet users source their information from books and journals albeit via the net medium. Thus this negates the theory that the internet will replace books as the main source of information, as here the origin and distribution of information stand on the same pedestal, rather it is an inevitable truth that the future of information is going to depend on the dual pillars of virtual and actual sources of the same-internet and books.