Observations about the speed of life

Been thinking about this lately.
Since I've been in journalism the past 15+ years, I've become accustomed, like it or not, to feeling the need be the first with something. The first to know about something. Come to think of it, that sounds more like human nature than a trait you acquire in j-school. Nevertheless, journalists think about it all the time. It's our competition in the marketplace. Some companies try to make the best gears or bearings, others try to make the best food so you'll visit their place. We try to get the news to you the fastest, so you'll count on us as your information source.
Thing is, the whole world became an information source in the last decade.
First it was anyone with a pc and a phone line. Then it was anyone with a laptop. Now it's anyone with a cell phone. Anyone can start information flowing, at any time. And with social networking putting this pace on hyperdrive, we're more connected than anyone could ever have imagined.
My point here is that being the first one to know ANYTHING is nearly impossible now. If we get a scoop on some story here, it's likely our competition will have it within hours too. Or less. Even if they weren't working on that same story, they're bound to see it on our site the minute it goes up, and they'll likely be posting something similar (often times linking to our story or somebody else's) until they get their own details.
It feels like 'scooping'  somebody now is like an outdated notion of superiority. Words, images, links, videos, they all spread like wildfire these days. I suppose that's where the term viral came from.
Nine times out of ten, if I hear about an interesting news story during the day, it's old news by the time I tell Ann about it. And considering she spends lots less time being plugged in during the day, that's pretty amazing. News really does travel fast these days. It's just a whole different ballgame, with a whole new roster of players. I mean, 20 years ago you wouldn't have any idea that I think it's laughable that we're going to the Kentucky Derby, unless I cared enough about you to spend money on a long-distance phone call to talk with you about it! Now, anyone in the world who looks this blog up or stumbles onto it by accident can read all about it.
Crazy.