Internet influencing car sales?

Automobile sales are down among the nation's teens and twenty-something year olds. While I do not think this should come as a surprise I do find it surprising that some would blame the internet. There was an article recently published on msnbc's website that tried to figure out the reason why members of Generation Y are so reluctant to purchase cars. The article places some of the blame on the internet and social media websites because it says that people can now communicate and even go to school online. This means there is less of a need to drive places and thus own a car.

I don't agree with this article because I think the reason Generation Y is less likely to use a car is because of the bad rep that cars have gotten everywhere. Cars are viewed as being a major contributor to global warming and I think the youth take it more seriously than older generations. In addition to that I think Generation Y views the car as not only contributing pollution to the environment but also taking a large chunk out of their pocket. Gas is expensive, car insurance is expensive, car maintenance is expensive. I think the car has been demonized in a way or at least the ones we currently have that run on oil.

This article doesn't surprise me because I am one of those Generation Y people that doesn't want a car anymore. I plan to move to a large city where I could use public transportation. I hate having to pay so much money for gas, insurance, maintenance, I don't want to contribute to pollution, and I wish I could walk more everywhere. How great it would be to save lots of money, have less of a carbon footprint, and get more exercise by walking more wherever I need to go. Plus I'd prefer walking among people in a city than constantly being isolated in a car everywhere I go.

Having said that, the internet has nothing to do with me not wanting a car or driving less. If I want to meet someone or go somewhere I never hesitate to get in my car. To learn more about what a carbon footprint is and to calculate you carbon footprint visit this site.

Government's Internet Presence

The government has been having a greater online presence lately. There are now many government services online such as online tax filing and WhiteHouse.gov. This increase in online government services has led to many questions about the privacy of citizens. Since so much information can be stored, how will this information be used and processed? Also, there will be less in person contact between government agencies and the citizens that they serve. How will the government use information stored from social media websites? What role will the government play in providing content and service in the development of e-commerce?

The issue that worries me the most is increased government regulation and censorship of the internet. With so many issues concerning piracy of copyrighted goods over the internet I wonder if the government will step up regulation of it. There was recently a bill proposed in the Senate called the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" that would allow the government to block sites they believe are guilty of copyright infringement. For more on this bill visit here. I believe this is just the beginning of the government possibly trying to regulate and censor the internet. Youtube has been having problems as well with what is considered copyright infringement of music, films, and other entertainment posted on their website and shared for free. This or other bills could easily then regulate a site like Youtube where most people go to get and share free content much of which is copyrighted. My hope is that the internet stay as free as possible but overtime I believe it will be more of a "compliment to real life" and so it would only be a matter of time before the government starts to meddle more in it.