I had a friend that told me, “This Internet is a fad, I wouldn’t base my career on it… What do we need a website for?” That was in 1995 when I first started working on the web and had just established my hosting company.
Two years later, everywhere I went while consulting and selling people on the idea of getting their own websites, I got complaints about how the Internet had destroyed or was in the process of destroying their industry. This was true whether it’s the guy that sells watches, the stockbroker that used to make a killing, the travel agent that sold tickets and made a living, even the mechanic that thought people were watching YouTube to learn how easy it was to change parts at home by themselves, etc.
The first thing I ask them, “Do you know what happened to the buggy whip when cars came to market? How about the telegram when the phones came? How about the scribes when the printing press was invented? Or Kerosene when electricity, and Gasoline, etc etc?” All these industries had to adapt or retire (go extinct after a short time of spinning its wheels.
I feel for them though, when I see what the new economy is doing to the old, but it’s a part of life. The complainers themselves are using it daily. So the old adage is true, “If you can’t beat them, join them”. Use the internet to change the way your job is done. Look at Robert Shapiro (O.J. Simpson’s lawyer), he started, or endorsed and became a part of, LegalZoom. Think of how you can do that.