Have you experienced a technology that has truly disappeared? Describe the experience and why the technology disappeared. What replaced the technology in the forefront?
I remember when I first started using a computer for research projects in elementary school. It was probably around 7th grade, so in 1996. We had a digital version of Encyclopedia Britannica, all on about 15 separate CD-ROMs. Once I started using Google regularly I remember being amazed at what I could find, now, I get annoyed if my desired result isn't within the first couple pages. I can type just a few letters into in the Google search bar, and results start to show up immediately. I find that it can usually correctly finish my search phrase withing 5 or 6 characters. I don't even have to hit the Enter key. Amazing!!
I think part of the reason search technology has disappeared is due to deliberate design choices. I remember when Yahoo! was the primary search engine. Their design was terrible...covered with flashing ads, lots of colors, images. It was a mess. Google understood what the user wanted and delivered it clean, organized, and reliable results. The other part of the reason the technology has disappeared is cultural. We are always connected; and constant connection means that we take the technology for granted. The concept of searching for information is so omnipresent in our lives that we hardly notice it, yet we are dependent upon it. I use Google every single day. In fact, I carry it around with me in my pocket...along with about 1 billion others.
I think there's another point contributing to Google's disappearance, which is that the interfaces for searching are now everywhere and directly in our paths. You don't have to think about going anywhere to search. In the latest browsers, you don't even have to type your search terms in a separate box, you type directly in the browser's address bar. It's changed the paradigm for how we use the web: forget addresses, just search every time.
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