I was being facetious about library cards... So far, there is NO comparison between a good library and the WWW. If you need to do serious research and write on a subject and get detail, libraries are essential...but for simple data and factoids and quick overviews, it is astounding what can be found with a good search engine.

You simply do the math...if Google says it has a billion+ web pages, there is a good chance someone has put up a page on how to make chocolate mousse, or information on castles in Bulgaria, or the poetry of e.e. cummings. And as 'experts' add pages on their specialty, you can get more & more detail in many areas. Now that storage is not a big issue, it may be possible to get access to the contents of the worlds libraries someday...and with distributed copies, there is less chance of one fire destroying records.

That being said, there is NOTHING like holding a book or standing in front of an original art work!

I am glad I got to see this technology work in my lifetime, and I just hope that it is never allowed to be 'owned' and controlled by a few big players.