Sometime soon, the internet is going to go the way of Citizen's Band radio. The original idea behind CB radio was to provide cheap, easy, convenient commumications for the masses. In a way, that sounds like the internet. But CB is all but gone. At first, it was so popular that the government saw fit to expand it from 23 to 40 channels. It was widely used as a local forum, and was a real convinence for travelers. Many homes had a base station and a mobile set in each car and truck. You could even use a battery powered "walkie-talkie." Range was limited, but you could keep track of the family all over town. I even had one in my boat.

So where did CB go? It died of abuse. People refused to abide by the rules. It was never intended for advertising, but truck stops, tourist traps, drug pushers, and worse, flooded the airways with their messages. Many used illegal amplifiers to extend their range and blank out other communications over a wide area. The profanity got so bad, you couldn't turn it on with children in the car.

Where was the FCC? They never made any real effort to police the CB channels, and when it got really bad, they "solved" the problem by abandoning it. Does any of this sound familiar?

I'm sure that somewhere there is still a farmer calling his wife on the CB to say that he is coming in for lunch. Truckers still use it. I still turn on the one in my pickup when traffic backs up. You even see one at a yard sale from time to time. But CB is dead, and the internet is the next victim. Instead of cussing truck drivers, we have viruses, Instead of drug pushers, we have internet scams. Instead of tourist traps with linear amplifiers, we have pop up ads. ("Congratulations, you have just had your train of thought interrupted by a con artist!") There are more lies than truths on the internet, and the situation is getting worse.

How long will it be before people start saying, "To heck with it. It's more trouble than it's worth. I give up." That's what they said about CB.
How"on my soapbox"ard