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10 Websites that Won't Change the World

So the World Economic Forum is meeting right now in Davos, Switzerland. This is being billed as the "first gathering of the 21st century of some 3,000 political/civil society, global business, scientific, academic and media leaders." Apparently these movers and shakers had a session on "10 websites that will change the world". I'm not impressed. Here's the sites that get mentioned in the official writeup, with some comments on their world-changing potential.

Don't blame me that there are 14 sites on this list of 10. It's those world leaders who can't count, not me.

• ReadWorld.com offers translations of English web pages into Chinese. This is actually the most impressive of the picks, since it could actually make a difference to let the bulk of people in China know more about the outside world. On the other hand, the Chinese government has shown a perfect willingness to crack down on both Chinese servers and Chinese use of the Internet. Does anyone doubt that they'll simply pull the plug if they think it's a real problem? World-changing potential: We'd do better to drop leaflets.
• The Drudge Report: I like Matt Drudge as much as the next conservative wacko. But world-changing? The guy got lucky and broke the Lewinsky story on the Internet and had his fifteen minutes of fame. Take a look some time at how many of his other "scoops" haven't panned out. World-changing potential: equal to that of the National Enquirer.
• The White House: So President Clinton and Socks are online. So what? Has it ever been difficult to find press puffery about the U.S. President? World-changing potential: could increase Internet usage among junior high students who hit the porn site at whitehouse.com by mistake.
• Forest World: According to the Davos PR, this site "brought enlightened production and marketing methods to potentially damaging operations." Darned if I can find that here. They do have a database of "sustainable forest" producers. This includes participants in every industry program, up to and including clear-cutting giant Weyerhauser. (They make the list because one of their sawmills is certified). World-changing potential: equivalent to that of the Prepared Foods industry site.
• Amazon.com: "Earth's Biggest Selection". Malls were shutting down small bookstores long before Amazon came along. And stock market bubbles go back at least as far as the Tulip Mania. Now that Amazon's laying off workers, maybe this one is about to end. World-changing potential: Starbucks will have to close a few stores when Amazon goes belly-up and 2000 Seattle-area drones are out of work.
• Blue Mountain Arts: Free electronic greeting cards. Can someone explain to me how free electronic greeting cards are going to change the world? I thought not. World-changing potential: Hello?
• webnoize: "Daily news and in-depth coverage of the digital music revolution". So music is digital now. Big deal. Getting those MP3s on to portable players for the nouveau yuppies in Silicon Valley won't feed one starving child. World-changing potential: equivalent to that of the Sex Pistols spitting on their audiences.
• Davos Newbies: OK, here we have a web site set up for people new to the Davos summit, published by someone attending the summit, and recommended to summit attendees as a way to change the world. World-changing potential: Can you say "wank", boys and girls? I knew you could.
• Geoworks: Cited as a negative example of changing the world, because of their nefarious plan to charge a $20,000 licensing fee for their patented technology to companies that make a million bucks or more off of WML (the protocol used to deliver web pages to the newest cel phones). World-changing potential: Call me back when poor people in the Third World are using their wireless phones to browse the web for suppliers of free vaccinations.
• The Mail Abuse Prevention System: In case you didn't know, the Internet has organized its own voluntary system for cutting down on junk email. If you have an email account, you can perhaps judge just how well this is working. World-changing potential: Equivalent to that of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers: These are the folks who ultimately handle the system that tells your web browser where to go when you type "www.icann.org" and hit Enter. Yes, it needs to be done, but that said, it's done. Technological plumbing just connects people; it doesn't change anything. World-changing potential: Equivalent to that of the ITU's conventions on telephone numbers.
• Stanford Online: "Education on Demand" from Stanford. Regular Stanford tuition of $765 per unit, 3-unit minimum, applies. Ability to handle streaming video required. This brings education to a few well-paid managers pursuing their MBA, not to the masses. Someday, it will be possible for anyone to find free courses online. Of course, like the rest of the Internet, the free courses will be filled with half-truths and outright lies. But at least they'll be free. World-changing potential: Get your diploma-mill degree now while it still means something.
• African Virtual University:  "A distance education program for sub-Saharan Africa". Supported by the World Bank, this organization makes college courses taught by first-world professionals available to university students in Africa. The courses themselves are delivered by satellite TV, not by the Internet, because net connections in Africa are generally slow and expensive. So, good program, and one that might actually bring about lasting change but the web site isn't essential. World-changing potential: Don't throw away your televisions just yet.
• Association for Democratic Initiatives: A website set up to help Kosovar refugees search for their families. The Hilal Humanitarian Organization collected names and towns of origins, made them searchable here, and reunites families. This is perhaps the best use of Internet technology on this list, and one where the network actually made a difference (it would be possible to do the same on paper, but it would take longer and work less well). World-changing potential: Too bad it was needed, but this one actually belongs on the list.

Having made ample fun of the Davos folks, I suppose I should offer  my own list of 10 websites that will change the world. Perhaps I should, but I won't, because I think the whole idea is fundamentally silly. Consider trying to come up with a list of 10 phone numbers that changed the world: "Well, there's UN Headquarters, and the hot line between Moscow and Washington..." No, anyone trying to provide such a list would be dismissed as daffy.

The Internet is just a tool. People working together change the world, and sometimes they use the Internet as a ways to stay in touch. But they also use the telephone and closed-circuit television and even the written word. The Internet itself isn't going to change the world, no matter how many gosh-wow websites come up with new business models that are supposed to shake the conventional economy to the core.