but if we shut down the internet what about hte other uses like school websites :confused:

My friends don't shop anymore in stores.They do everything online...I think possibly they may have addiction to Ebay

How is this going to be implemented? I mean Shutting Down the Internet. Ever watch I-Robot? injects virus? I think you can shut it down, but can you?

That aside, I also think Elton is making a point by distorting the proportion of the matter at hand to make it Glaring in the media, advertising pitch, grab the attention of the people. if he only says "people get out more, don't play with your computer whole day" vs "I WANT TO SHUT DOWN THE INTERNET". I do not think Elton really thinks it is possible to shut down the internet, The message he wants everyone to get is, go outside more, do not marry your computer!

The ironic thing about this whole thing is we are discussing it over the internet!

the internets really good but then it can get annoying if you get a virus on your computer, got told by friend. u need the internet nowadoays now though dont u cause of college and schools and stuff, everything is getting based on the internet.

I can sort of understand his point. He wants us to get out more. Same time,he should stop worrying about what he thinks other people does, and get a life. Internet is the best thing that ever happened to a lot of people, especially isolated or disabled folks. I fell in love with the Internet, but Im not married to it.
Me and my friends uses the internet a lot for various reasons, I create music on my computer too, and could´nt LIVE without the Internet, (as a source of information and a way to get in touch with other people, publish my writing or just entertain myself) But that does not stop me from seeing other people, go to work, travel, go to the Pub or chat with my neighbor, or just exist and mind my own buissness as I used to do before the Internet. If one is stuck online 24/7, one has a serious social problem. If I where famous like Elton John, I would focus more on putting an end to certain aspects of the internet. Childporn and illegal drugs and such.

I disagree. If anything, the internet makes it easier for people to search for new ideas and information. In the past, I had to go to the library and maybe wait a week or two for the requested book. Now, I can just "google" it.
It has it good points and bad points but society will adjust to it, like it adjusted to the introduction of the printing press.
However, I do agree it stops, or rather reduce people going out and socializing but this is not just down to the internet. The TV had a similar impact and now the internet.
Kids these days prefer to play their latest video game, online or not, where as in the past kids would play in the streets or in the parks. But then again how many parents let their kids play outside unsupervised ?

Oh please. If anything, the internet has expanded my creativity. Before we had the internet, when I was a kid, I was always very creative and I wrote stories and poetry in notebooks (some of which I still have). I'm just as creative now, if not more so, because the internet gives me an outlet to share my work with others and improve myself! The internet has also opened up my eyes to music I never would have otherwise found.

It's true, the internet has changed our lives and the way we behave. But change isn't all bad. And it hasn't stopped people from having a social life, as Elton's comments would seem to indicate. If individual people want a time out from the internet, I can understand that, but you can just do that for yourself by limiting your own time online. You can't stop the world turning just because it's spinning a bit faster than it used to.

I don't think he's mad, I think he's blind.
There's all types of artists, with all types of art.
Amazing art comes from the net too-
Photoshop for example- people create great things on photoshop, and share it with the rest of the world.
How about all the support sites on the net?
Alchohalisim support,
Drug abuse support,
Depresssion support, (Of course I mean people who have dealt with those problems, and are trying to get better supporting each other) it lets people seek support for whatever problems they have anonymously..
The internet is a great place, it's a great thing.
He's not mad, he's just blind.

They would go back to the ye olde days of printed newsletters!
And nasty emails to school administrators would change to writing a letter, which takes more thought becuase you have to go to the mailbox and pay postage. I'm not thinking tha the loss of school websites is a bad thing. Especially since, at least on the high school level, the websites are run and maintained by students, often upperclassmen who want to commit a solo and audacious senior prank, or maybe that's just my school. Either way school websties are not all they're cracked up to be.

Im sure youve heard about studys made on kids that uses the internet a lot, and play games and such-how they actually improved their IQ! Even I improved my IQ, I can multitask much more quickly now, shift between languages, my memory improved and I feel more creative: Everyday I learn new things, thanks to my comp and the internet! (my spelling still sucks, though )

I brought this discussion to my husband yesterday, and hes not a big computer-fan, but he got upset cause he pointed out how important it is to communicate, socialize and share thoughts. Before the Internet our social-life was limited to people we actually meet. I still think its "magical", how I can make friends with someone in the carribean in just a few minutes, and how positive that really is.

“Instead they sit at home and make their own records,"


What is that supposed to mean? People don't spend a fortune on a recording studio, but instead sit at home and try to make music with their computers and a microphone, and he thinks that that's bad? Shit, if he is so concerned about art, why is he picking at things that encourage people to be artists more easily than they could before? Just because it's easier doesn't mean the quality is any worse, just more people can make art that don't necessarily have the talent for it.
He says we need to go out and communicate... Well I'm pretty sure everyone in this thread is communicating with one another, and when I talk to my boyfriend on MSN, I'm pretty sure we're communicating - some of our best discussions have been on IM's.
Elton John claims not to have an ipod or cellphone - well good for him, but that sort of proves he has no argument on the matter of modern technology. I don't own a television. Maybe those should be banned too, because people can sit inside watching TV and not communicating and making bad decisions based on TV shows.
Uhg.
Idiot.

Very true. The internet is one of the many that have adapted our lives. If you take it away we will not progress in technology as fast. So the internet is a good thing.

Everyones got good points really, i just thought aswel if there was no internet and you had family of friends abroad or far away due to them living there, you wouldnt be able to speak to them without msn, yahoo, etc... or for business and society reasons like housing if you replied via email about something, it gets things done alot quicker.

It's not just technology, The internet puts all sorts of information at our fingertips. With a few clicks of a button, i can learn about Ardvarks and Zoology, and qaudratic eqautions or psychoactive treatments. It's an Educational Tool. He's lost his awesome mind!

he cant do that kids need to research we need to do contests so he cant do it nooooooooo

Ummmmm, let me think...no.

One of the biggest problems I see with the internet is ONLINE SHOPPING.
I have noticed recently that when I visit websites like walmart, bestbuy, gamestop, target, and others I would usually come across an item that I am interested in only to see the words "available online only" under such items.
I feel this "buy it online" is getting out of hand. I usually like to examine items before I buy them, the internet does not allow me to do that instead I have to go by some random persons word.

I dont know about you but I do not feel very comfortable giving name, address, phone, SSN, and Credit card numbers through the internet then risk possible damage or getting lost during shipping and wait for some guy to drop it off at my door only to worry about my product getting stolen if I am not at home during that time.
Instead of being lazy I find it easier to take a hour drive and buy it in store.

I think stores are pulling this crap because they see it as cheaper for them to mail it to you than risk stocking shelves with items they are scared may not sell.

Can't be done anyway, you can't "shut the internet down", that guy doesn't know what he's talking about, and even if we're just speaking theoretically, his arguments are weak, there's so many other things not having the internet would do to society, his point about music is stupid.

I think Sir E is bitter.

I still buy the EPs or CDs of my favorite bands.. even if I did get to know them through the internet. Internet even broadened my taste, I would say.

As for Artists getting lazy. Well Sir John, I didn't get my MA in Fine Art at University level by sitting on my butt surfing around the WWW. Moot Point. But I do like the fact I don't need to bike to the library and search around the books to get to know the name of that painting by that painter anymore. It's not a waste of time.. it saves time, time I can use for actually making art. For music.. well I also didn't learn to play guitar without ever holding one in my hands.

Copying universitary thesises and so on? Mhh sorry Elton, but I guess you never finished any form of higher education yourself. Otherwise you would have known professors expect their students to have original thoughts, so when you have to write your Academic-thesis at the end of your studies, they know you, have heard your ideas about the world and you cannot copy that from the internet.

Theryby, without MTS2 and the S2C I would never ever have taught myself to build computer generated meshes for computer games.

Internet doesn't make you lazy, on the contrary, so much information only a click away.. you would expect people to get smarter from that.

All I can say is that the internet has not ruined my social life, quite the opposite in fact as I'm currently in France with The_French_Sim who I met through.....the internet!
Aaaaaaaand...it helps me be creative too. Without the internet I probably wouldn't be writing my stories.

Internet = :valentine

Somehow, goverments are trying hard to get a grip and cencor the Internet. Im totally against it! They cant give us-the people-this freedom, and then take it away. Sad to see sir Elton is on the "wrong side" here.

If the internet didn't exist we wouldn't be here now debating this. And The Sims 2 probably wouldn't exist either which is pretty much what connects everyone here.

But hey! The internet is down:S Looks like some websites are still OK, like S2C and Youtube, but most of them are down, British Airways, BCP, European Union website, everything!

And they caught who did it! There's a video on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJCy...readid%3D178559

The bad sides of internet are all to do with the wrong use of it.

1. Lack of social contact - YOU are the one sitting behind the computer for hours on end
2. Younger kids seeing inappropriate content - parents are responsible for teaching their children how to use the internet properly, and to keep an eye on what they do. Also, simply being openminded about 'taboo subjects' like sex, ensures a healthy development of children in that area

And there are many more bad things I could do with the internet. I could round up opposers of political figures and organize an assasination. But do I do that? No, because I use the internet in a proper manner.

The internet has so many good points and uses that they outweigh the cons:

1. The mass availability of information
2. Ridiculously easy and fast contact with people all across the world, for no charge at all
3. A source for (fan)fiction, it's easier to share your written work to a larger public
4. Stress relief, entertainment and fun are everywhere on the net, in many types
5. Meeting people is much easier for shy people when done on the net. I have made friendships for life thanks to internet.

So it all comes down to HOW you use internet.


BTW, you can also view porn with your TV. Let's ban all TV's!!

Hahaha! This is so funny! I couldn't vote for sth like that. It's insane., I believe that, as in all cases, the Internet is either good or bad, according to how you choose to use it.