Is the Internet killing everything?

[Bryd0]

The way I see it even in this generation, the Internet is taking away businesses and slowly killing off other real-life things. One example is that some supermarkets and cinemas will one day fade away because of more people doing online shopping and ordering and watching films online too. I could say more but this'll do for now. I really think the Internet is killing things that we have taken for granted for generations and in the distant future, everything we do would have to be done on the Internet only when all shops lose their business, and that would be crap.



Do you feel the same? And do you see that this could actually happen in many years time? Discuss.

 

[DrLeftover]

If you do your shopping online... Say, you want a dozen eggs, a jug of laundry soap, a pair of sneakers, an eight piece chicken dinner, and one of my books to read later..... Where does it come from?



Does it materialize at your front door? Beamed down from the mothership or just created out of nothing?



No.



The eggs and chicken dinner are probably going to be delivered by a local contractor from a fairly local supplier as they are perishable. Most likely too, the laundry soap will be supplied from a 'break of bulk' warehouse within an hour's drive or so simply because of the cost of shipping something like that. While it is non perishable, it is heavy. Those could all be delivered the same day, if not, in fact, within hours of being ordered. And most likely, you will pay more than you would if you simply stopped by a store and bought them, not to mention the delivery charge... and the tip.



The sneakers can come from West Bumfuzzle, but they still have to be made by somebody, somewhere, and then put in a box and sent to you, to be delivered by our local contractor who is the central drop point for shipments from the shoe company. He may well stop by where I live and pick up an order of hand dyed yarn that my wife does and who ships it back out to the lady at the shoe company that knits.



My book is printed to order by both publishers. You buy one, they run it off and bind it. But again, there is human interaction, and the guy that works for UPS that will stop by your house and leave it on your front step next to the shoes because you weren't home.



So while the Net may replace some businesses, or at least change the way they do business, it will never replace everything.

 

[Evil Eye]

when all shops lose their business

Except by that point they'd all be online shops. No business lost there.

 

[DrLeftover]

If you want something quickly, if you want to see what you're buying, to try it on....



That's real tough to do on line.

 

[Evil Eye]

Virtual reality may cover that eventually.

I kinda doubt stores will really disappear all that quickly anyway.

 

[Fatal Dawn]

You could say that if anything small businesses are the ones who fall behind. As expected small business can't compete with the larger businesses on the web.



Much is moved online. Employers now look to hire people who are technologically adept. They train their employers to be tech savvy and they hire contractors to help keep up with the times. Big businesses now have to work on having that perfect synergy with technology. They move their market online and encourage their customers to move to their online market by telling them that it is more convenient, efficient, etc.



The internet might be starving the music and movie industry but some of the smarter business don't try to fight an uphill battle. As I said: synergy is key. Work with the times, not against them. If most people now get their music and entertainment online, move your market there. If most of your target audience is always e-mailing, surfing the web, or social networking - send your shopping market there.



Businesses that do well for themselves are able to stay afloat by moving their services online. So I'm sure the big business that are able to adapt are not suffering.

 

[McConnaughay]

The internet isn't killing everything, but in-fact bringing it to life, the countless jobs that it has created overrun in quantity the amount that it has taken away. For every store that has closed down, hundreds more have opened on the internet.

 

[DrLeftover]

Just like TV killed radio, eh?



However, the automobile put a few of the horse wagon manufacturers out of business, at least the ones that didn't adapt and start making cars.