ve us time, it actually just uses time up in a new and much-too-attractive way.
For one thing, the Internet promises a lot, and so we dive in with abandon in order to reap the benefits as soon as possible. We are told that the ability to make use of the Internet is part of our preparation for the future, a future many see as dominated by the proposed information superhighway, which involves a certain vision of how electronic communications will be developed and used in the future. Those proposing this idea say the vision is simple: an unprecedented nationwide and, eventually, worldwide electronic communications network that connects everyone to everyone else and provides just about any sort of electronic communication imaginable. The purpose of all this connecting is to provide remote electronic banking, education, shopping, taxpaying, chatting, game playing, videoconferencing, movie ordering, medical diagnosing, and even cybersex to us all without our having to leave home.
We are told how much time we can save if we get everything done without having to leave home, but I immediately see a different vision, a vision of diminishing returns and time wasted in new ways. I know this is true, because I have already wasted plenty of it myself. For one thing, if I run to the store for something, I know right where to look for it. I pay for it and I'm out the door. If I go on line looking for what I want, I could be there all afternoon. Paying online can be both a difficult and a frightening prospect. No one at the sporting goods store ever warned me that millions of people, could be looking over my shoulder at that very moment, salivating to get their hands on the number I was about to use to pay with a credit card. For that matter, I can write a check at the store and not worry about people using my check number to take a trip to Bermuda. At last, I think I don't have to worry about that.
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