The Race to Zero: The Real Niche for the Realtime Web

A recent Hacker News discussion centered around whether realtime is detrimental or at least unnecessary. Many of the commenters were quite disparaging of the realtime web, claiming that slow web is the way to go. They go on to make an arguable claim that HFT is an example of where "realtime" leads to more trouble than its worth. The arguments against the realtime web aren't all that new. The same arguments have been recycled from the contention that the Internet itself with its constant barrage of communication through emails, IMs, and Google queries have negatively affected our lives and compromised our concentration. In fact, at least two celebrity authors have come down on opposite sides of a related issue: Tim Ferris in The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated) argues that elements of technology such as email detract from life and really ought to be outsourced if possible whereas Doug Merrill in Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right argues that tech becomes an extended brain enhancing our abilities and increasing our capacity. Another more nuance take in Is Google Making Us Stupid? comes from Nicholas Carr, a Pulitzer-winning writer.