Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Web Secret 615: The end of serendipity

I strive for precision in all of my Internet based undertakings. I don't want to waste my time.

This means I have unfriended or unfollowed any individuals, companies or causes that I am against, or fail to interest me. I exist in a social media bubble of my own making.

I zero in on facts or objects with laser precision. I know where I can find red leather combat boots in size 10 wide made in Portugal. I am not surfing the Net, I plan drone strikes.

Recently, I watched a CBS Sunday Morning news piece on the founder of the eponymous Bob's Red Mill, a $100 million health food company started in the 1960s by Bob Moore. Bob Moore was working in the automotive industry when he wandered into a library, and for reasons he cannot recall, picked up "John Goffe's Mill," a book about an archeologist who rebuilt a flour mill. The book inspired Bob to start his own mill business producing whole grain oats and other products making him a very wealthy man.

And it occurred to me that with technology comes a loss of serendipity. No more browsing through libraries, bookstores, clothing racks and more. Or at the very least less browsing.

Think about it.

No comments:

Post a Comment