Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted!
<messaging> Since Usenet first got off the ground in 1980-81, it has
grown exponentially, approximately doubling in size every year. On the other
hand, most people feel the signal-to-noise ratio of Usenet has dropped steadily.
These trends led, as far back as mid-1983, to predictions of the imminent
collapse (or death) of the net. Ten years and numerous doublings later, enough
of these gloomy prognostications have been confounded that the phrase "Imminent
Death Of The Net Predicted!" has become a running joke, hauled out any time
someone grumbles about the S/N ratio or the huge and steadily increasing volume,
or the possible loss of a key node or link, or the potential for lawsuits when
ignoramuses post copyrighted material etc.
[Jargon File]
(1998-09-24)
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