Full text of the piece set out below
6 March 2015 Link to online version
Vivianne Arnold
THE advent of the Internet has often been compared to invention of the printing press in the late 15th century. Like the Internet, the printing of books made information ubiquitous and readily accessible, empowering people with knowledge they used to change and expand their world.
What is often forgotten in this analogy is that the revolution triggered by the printing press was ongoing; it wasn’t over and done with inside a few years or even decades. It had a transformational impact on human history which lasted centuries.
So it is with the Internet. The message is that the revolution is not over yet. Many industries are still dealing with its far-reaching implications and will never be the same again.
Much has been written about the supposed demise of the print media, and how that has changed journalism. Convergence in media has destroyed the barrier between print and electronic media, and pitted old style newspaper publishers against public broadcasters and new arrivals like Huffington, personal blogs and even Facebook.
The financial industry may have taken longer to feel the impact of the online revolution, but that doesn’t mean it is going to escape. In fact, right now it is the turn of the established financial industry to really feel the blowtorch of change.
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