I sometimes think that the Internet - with emphasis on the ability to search it - to technology is something like zero ('0') to mathematics, it's a relatively late development and without it some things are just impossible to accomplish.
I've recently been working on some small C# project. I don't really know C#, yeah I did a one-week course and I do know Java and C++, but that doesn't really mean I know all the techniques and tricks. So, naturally each time I hit a bump, I google it, and voila! The first or second result is usually what I'm looking for.
Now, what would I do in a world without Internet? Call a friend? Look up the subject in a C# book? This will probably force me to keep a small library of programming books, which is nice to brag about but space and money consuming and still much less efficient. And neither solution allows me to instantly paste code snippets into my code. You get the idea, not having Internet, my task would have been much more frustrating and challenging.
But who cares about me, what about serious software development? Think how much time would've been wasted if every time a programmer had a problem he would've had to start searching books. Of course he has his colleagues as well but they don't usually provide a written code example, more wasted time. And time is money.
I'm not really a (programming-)linguist but I think that modern programming languages like Java, C#, Perl, etc. couldn't be what they are today without the Internet, they depend on too much different interfaces and classes (hey, where would I get my Perl packages from) and one can't expect to master them all, there's also a limit on how much information and examples you can put on an MSDN disk you even if you release a new version once in a while. Besides, you'll never have what professional forums supply.
Since I work mostly with Oracle products, the trivial analogy is Metalink. Yes, I know Oracle precedes the Internet but I really don't know how support worked those days. Did they publish some kind of soft copy repository containg notes? Did you manage all your TARs on the phone? And what about uploading log files, did you have to send a diskette with the files to Mohender in India?
One thing I'm (pretty) sure of is that having an online support system, like Metalink - however not efficient it may be at times - enables Oracle (and every other software company as well) to develop more complicated products and more sophisticated features. It's one thing to search the Metalink or google once in a while and a totally different thing to search through documents and manage your TARs by phone.
Hail the Internet!
1 comment:
As for the first part of your post, I'm sure that if the Internet wouldn't exist today, one would have to invent it. So it would still exist, perhaps with a different name.
As for the second part, there were two resources:
1. phone. but not only to Oracle, as you'd also consult with other clients (user-groups etc).
2. your own wits. the satisfaction/frustration of solving a problem yourself is much bigger. today you'd achieve that feeling only in the rare cases you solve something which hasn't got a solution on the Internet (and than post the solution on your blog, to get the credit and even a better feeling).
Post a Comment