On Computing

        The World Wide Web in the recent years has really been living up to its title. Every day, innovation is fueling the expansion of the internet. Progress may seem slow at times, and when that seems to be the case it is useful to remember that progress can't be lost, and thus advances much like a glacier or tectonic plate: slowly but surely. Even when movement seems to be imperceptible, we can predict potentially enormous long-term effects. It is with this belief in the progress of the internet and the computing society that I form my response to a few valid criticisms against them.

• Does the internet render privacy impossible?
  The question here is whether or not someone can remain truly anonymous in a society like ours. Even before the digital era, census data was available to any determined party. Now, credit card data is held online in databases of questionable security. Social networks render anonymity nearly unattainable for their members. However, there is a glimmer of hope for the independent mountain-man or retired CIA agent. If you keep a low profile in real life and don't give anyone reason to add your information to the internet, you're covered. This is, of course, assuming that you don't do the adding yourself.
  
• Is the computer the end-all couch-potato maker?
  The answer to this question is an unequivocal "yes." Variety, as the cliche goes, is the spice of life: something that presents novel content on a regular basis will be highly addicting, and such is the case with the internet. But is this a bad thing? People have always had distractions; cave painting, pistol dueling, and arson to name a few. None of these require much effort from the participants, save the travelling effort. My point is that people throughout history have had the choice to remain sedentary, and while much productivity has much been lost from this, there isn't anything inherently bad about it. Anyone sufficiently interested in their own well-being will take it upon themselves to regularly exercise. Thus surfing the net should be regarded as simply a recreational activity, not as an obscene act to be vilified.
  
• What if I'm disgusted by everything that I can find there?
  You must be new here. I have been on 4Chan and arguably seen the worst that the internet has to offer. However, being a product of my generation and heavy surfing, I am nearly immune to the negative effects of seeing things normally considered gross and appalling. If you're seriously offended by the things on the internet, just ignore them. That's not saying that illegal activities such as drug trafficking should be allowed, but grossness is just inherent in the ugly side of internet culture. You don't have to look at the pictures of polycystic kidneys or blatant pron if you don't want to.
  
• Will there be a new social divide to conquer because of the limited availability of computers?
  This question could have been raised decades ago when the first alphanumerical room-filling computer calculators were made. Of course everyone can't afford to lease the ENIAC. But now, the power of a computer that used to fill hundreds of square meters is able to be compressed onto a silicon chip smaller than your fingernail. Moore's Law has a corollary: computing power will get cheaper and cheaper as the years go bye. Assuming this trend will hold true until 2022, the highest end computers of  today will be reduced in cost to around 1/32 of their cost today. In the future, though computers may be slightly expensive now, they will definitely be more widely available in the future, and thus there is no  reason to worry that the internet will cause a social divide.

Of course, I have a bias for defending the merits of the internet, but I see these arguments as having some degree of objective truth. </argument>