Came across this interesting piece on BBC news. It covers the market from a economic standpoint but is damning of it for a mainstream news site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26336736It's a really well argued piece about the current state of the technology market
a couple of quotes
Beware of the belief that the technology curve is an inevitable advance for good. More and more economic activity is now derived from things that simply do not matter. Futility beckons.
Historians tells us that one of the contributory factors to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was the crippling expense of the state-organised circuses that distracted the populace from the tiresome realities of life in Rome.
I wonder whether we are now embarked on a similar trajectory, in our new futile economy.
The internet has changed a lot from its roots as a communications tool for scientists and academics (and of course the US Govt) to the mass entertainment and communication network it has become today.
From the environmental standpoint it's definately been a double edged sword. Physical media sales (CD/DVD/Books/Newspapers etc) are all falling though the floor, and consuming these items on tablets etc can save resources (
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2010/08/should_you_ditch_your_books_for_an_ereader.html) But, we also upgrade our technology far too frequently due to built in obsolescence and our desire for the next big thing (can you really warrant an upgrade from an old working smartphone or tablet to a newer model based on functionality alone?)
Content and Video on the Web is also increasing hugely in quality and therefore bandwidth, with 4K and beyond around the corner. I dread to think how long most of the web takes to load on a non broadband connection nowadays. All of this could politely be called 'nice to have' at best and a complete waste of resources at worst.
As Neven said on the Global Economics thread the internet has become an essential for most of us now (me included). Could the internet be good (or at least neutral) for the environment in the long term, possibly, but on the course we are going on with it I doubt it.