In Clay Shirky’s “Newspapers and the Unthinkable,” Shirky discusses the idea of the newspaper becoming obsolete and what a tragic happening this would be. I honestly don’t think it will be as tragic as people are anticipating, or at least it won’t be that bad for me! I think nostalgia is the main reason why people are so torn up about the idea of the internet taking over printed news. People who grew up watching their parents and their grandparents purchase and read the newspaper each day have developed an attachment to this form of publication. I think this is slightly lame and naïve. With changing times come changing professions and changing traditions. The transition away from printed news will be a catastrophe for writers, publishers, reporters, etc. in the industry; however, they, and the process, will adapt to the current times. Although I support the transition away from printed news, I do not think it will ever die out completely. I think there will still be some large companies that survive and last. Similarly, I think it will be some time before newspapers are fully gone. An article in Fortune 500 magazine report between 2005 and 2010, newpaper revenues would drop by ten billion. Yes, that is a drastic change, but if remains steady, should take a while to cause the complete failure of the printed business. I think people need to stop worrying and running from the inevitable: the internet will, in time and for the most part, replace printed news. It's just another change.... The most important thing however is not that Google promises faster speeds, but that Google always changes the way in which a field works once it enters the market, specifically, in regards to how money is earned. Google is planning to offer lower costs with much higher rewards, which could decimate the entire US ISP industry, whose costumers are actively seeking an alternative to high price/low speed internet connections. Google has already drawn profit away from huge companies such as Microsoft with the launch of their Google Apps, and high speed ISP’s seem to be their next target. Google also shows how much power it has in the digital marketplace, by making the launch of an ISP seem incredibly easy, while AT&T and Verizon try to earn their customers money by talking about how hard they are working to provide the convenience of high speed internet. ISP’s have long had problems with Google and it’s associated companies (such as YouTube), claiming that Google should pay more money due to the high bandwidth associated with such sites. Ultimately, this announcement is Google’s response to the companies who don’t like the ways in which Google operates. Instead of adapting itself to fit the demands of the industry, Google is going to adapt the industry to fit its demands. Google's Introduction Video can be viewed here Source : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/google-isp/ -30-