It’s the million dollar question, “How much would you pay for the Internet?”. Unfortunately, this lopsided video only shows one side of the conversation. The assumption is that had it not been for capitalism (ugh, don’t get me started), most of the things that we take for granted (cellphones, computers, the Internet) would not be available to us today.
Well, sure, of course that’s true. But what they fail to mention is that it took the minds of creative geniuses who first thought of these inventions for more than monetary gains. They were trying to make improvements that inherently benefited society. In fact, if you were to look behind many of these key iconographic tools, you would find that our military funded many of these inventions at the birth of the original concept. And frankly, had it not been for the knowledge and power base of many universities, they probably wouldn’t look or function like anything that we have today.
The business world is full of diverse interests, but those interests are fairly fleeting when compared to the length of time that invention takes. By the time that invention becomes a tangible product, the business world would have moved on to the next profitable interest that is generating hype. Those companies who do stay the course typically have unique social entrepreneur types leading their organization down paths that the company would never have considered otherwise.
The Internet is available to millions of us because of the networks that communication companies are laying for them. But the Internet in its incarnation isn’t valuable because we are able to communicate across thousands of miles to loved ones everywhere. The Internet is valuable because it’s a social collective that continually grows as each new user leaves their digital footprint. And those infinite amounts of prints did not get started by capitalism. They got started because people create! Some will create for capitalism, some will create for fame, and some will create just to create. We all have our own reasons to use the Internet. I for one couldn’t live without it. It’s my infinite library that teaches me something new everyday. It’s my window to the world that allows me to communicate with other like (and dissimilar) minds. It’s my own personal user experience that never repeats itself twice because we humans have put ourselves out there for others to connect with. Since no two humans are the same, then no two paths across the Internet will ever be completely replicated.
So, how much would you pay to use the Internet? Shouldn’t we be asking those communication companies, “How much would you pay us to continue making the Internet grow?” You can’t have one without the other. Yin and Yang once again. The universe gets it. When will the rest of us catch up?
– thought cue started by a DesignTaxi’s tweet
