Cyber Times

Yes, folks, these are cyber times, and that calls for timely cyber strategies

Certain search engines that used to be relatively unbiased are now exploiting their users. For example, if you do a search for "non-commercial search engines" at Altavista, you get ADVERTISING related to search engines, but no results [Screen Grab]. If you search for a saleable product, like "sport utility vehicles" you get advertising for CBS sports, and thousands of hits [Screen Grab].
"So what," you may say. Well, I happen to think it is of some consequence that the WWW is turning into a commercially driven yellow pages substitute instead of the utopian database that various techno-prophets had foreseen. Is it really so desirable to replace textbooks with web access, given these commercial trajectories? I think the web can be useful, to be sure, but the unbridled profit seeking that has a hold on the internet right now will not, in my opinion, lead to a more enlightened media system than we have right now.
Dec-31-1994