The digital age offers a continuous flow of wondrous new gadgets and an ever expanding universe of ideas, entertainment and opinions, most of it available free on the Web.

So what’s not to like?

Plenty, it would seem, if a few cranky but vocal contrarians are to be believed.

Certainly, the prospect of career oblivion has not endeared print journalists to the digital revolution. With readers coming to expect free content on the Web, circulation and advertising revenue have plummeted for most newspapers and magazines. As the old media struggles to adapt in a rapidly changing environment, no clear solution has yet appeared. Some publications believe that e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s new iPad present a new and possibly lucrative vehicle for their content.

Speaking of Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, one industry insider suggested to The Times at least one leader of the new media is in no rush to hasten the demise of traditional publishing: “Steve believes in old media companies and wants them to do well. He believes democracy is hinged on a free press and that depends on there being a professional press.’’

Meanwhile, some of those companies, including The New York Times, are looking for ways to charge for their material on the Web without scaring away too many readers. The Times is not the only newspaper looking to get reimbursed for its content. But the example of one New Yorkarea newspaper is not encouraging. Newsday, based on Long Island, put up a paywall on its Web site in October, charging readers $5 a week for full access. As of January 26, only 35 people had subscribed (although all home subscribers, some 400,000 families, have access to the site).

Even some fervent early advocates of the Web are now questioning its direction. Leading the pack is Jaron Lanier, a pioneering computer scientist who now warns of “hive thinking’’ and “digital Maoism’’ taking over the Internet, The Times reported. In his book “You Are Not a Gadget,” he writes that “authors, journalists, musicians and artists are encouraged to treat the fruits of their intellects and imaginations as fragments to be given without pay to the hive mind.”

Another skeptical group, musicians, are also railing against progress, some by clinging to the warmer sound of analog-era artifacts like vinyl records, magnetic tape and vacuum tube guitar amps. As for MP3’s, they may be convenient, but many musicians question their sound quality and the long-term effects of easy or free downloads.

“I would pick this as the absolute worst time to connect with people through music,’’ Jack White of The White Stripes told Robert Hilburn of The Los Angeles Times. “Today’s generation takes a lot for granted when it comes to music. They don’t buy the CD, but they’ll download it and give it to their friends.’’

Or as Neil Young, who first gained fame as a rocker in the countercultural 1960s, put it, “Apple has made music into wallpaper.’’

New gadgets and technology, like streaming music, may not be benefit those in creative fields. / DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES