Nowadays most information is available online, whereas in the past knowledge used to be stored in books and on paper. Do you think the advantages of this situation outweigh its disadvantages?
Today, one can explore the internet to study or gain knowledge, while in yesteryears they had to peruse books and paper. This scenario has its own benefits and problems, but whether the former eclipses the latter is a matter that needs a profound analysis.
Data being available online has its own advantages, like at one click one can get information: searching for a place to go, looking for upcoming events, deriving study material and many more. This helps one manage their day-to-day routine and works differently for different people. Furthermore, it helps students to learn and study easily: they can find information online conveniently without needing to carry or browse through heavy paper-based material, saving them time and effort.
Similarly, this arrangement is extremely ecologically sustainable: the advent of the internet-based platforms and portals has ushered in a paper-less era, wherein every organization is shifting from physical material to virtual one. Consequently, the felling of trees for manufacturing paper has mitigated to a great extent, allowing rewilding of denuded areas. To corroborate, as per the European Environment Agency, countries like Switzerland, Germany and France have been able to restore forests due to fall in demand for paper in recent years.
However, one does encounter certain challenges while relying on the information available online. It is many times not authentic - by virtue of being unsolicited - and thus, often misleading and unreliable. Likewise, there are chances of redundant inputs - that might be too old to be relevant - being supplied to the information seekers, exposing them to unwarranted situations.
To conclude, storing and deriving information from online sources can be beneficial and does afford greater merits than pitfalls by virtue of being a convenient and environmentally friendly method: its utility can be optimized provided one uses it prudently.
