What would life be like?
This is a completely honest question, because heck if I know. What would life be like without the internet?
I use the internet EVERY DAY. For work, for recreation, for keeping in touch with friends and family, for research. I'm not the only one. There are other people using the internet EVERY DAY for similar things and for things that I probably haven't even thought of yet. Even people who don't use the internet EVERY DAY are effected by it. For example, my sister, who is a self-proclaimed computer-illiterate uses AIM to keep in touch with her friends, e-mail for her school work, puts pictures on her facebook (with a bit of guidance), and does various other tasks using the internet.
I sat down at my computer a few weeks ago when our wireless internet connection was not working properly. I sat staring at my desktop trying to think of something to do that didn't involve the internet. My favourite games are on websites or multi-players that connect to the internet. Couldn't check my e-mail or IM my friends without the internet. I couldn't even look at the pictures that my friends recently uploaded to flikr. What is going on? It used to be that having a computer was the important thing. If you didn't have computer you were missing out on SOMETHING. You couldn't use spreadsheets or type your homework (I did all of my papers until 9th grade on my Dad's 1960's typewriter). You couldn't play Keen or Doom or solitaire (okay, you could play solitaire if you had a deck of cards). But all of these things are no longer the reason for having a computer. The reason to have a computer is to connect to the INTERNET!
Lately, it seems like everything revolves around the internet. The the red paperclip guy probably would have never reached his goal of trading up from a single red paperclip to a house without the publicity that his blog gave him. People wouldn't have been intrigued by the 39 dollar experiment guy who sent 100 letters to a 100 companies asking for free stuff(TM). This case of mistaken-cyber-identity would have never happened -- and people across the globe wouldn't be able to connect in the way that they do now. Knowledge and information would not be shared so easily. AOL Representatives wouldn't be fired so quickly over harassing a customer who was trying to cancel their service if that very conversation wasn't posted online for the world to listen to.
The internet is now a social hub. It's a gigantic repository of knowledge. It's an advertisers dream and a marketers nightmare. It's a network of people that includes people from every age group, every culture, every country, every part of the globe. For every newbie on internet, the world seems to shrink just a little bit more. And the possibilities are increasing.
I use the internet EVERY DAY. For work, for recreation, for keeping in touch with friends and family, for research. I'm not the only one. There are other people using the internet EVERY DAY for similar things and for things that I probably haven't even thought of yet. Even people who don't use the internet EVERY DAY are effected by it. For example, my sister, who is a self-proclaimed computer-illiterate uses AIM to keep in touch with her friends, e-mail for her school work, puts pictures on her facebook (with a bit of guidance), and does various other tasks using the internet.
I sat down at my computer a few weeks ago when our wireless internet connection was not working properly. I sat staring at my desktop trying to think of something to do that didn't involve the internet. My favourite games are on websites or multi-players that connect to the internet. Couldn't check my e-mail or IM my friends without the internet. I couldn't even look at the pictures that my friends recently uploaded to flikr. What is going on? It used to be that having a computer was the important thing. If you didn't have computer you were missing out on SOMETHING. You couldn't use spreadsheets or type your homework (I did all of my papers until 9th grade on my Dad's 1960's typewriter). You couldn't play Keen or Doom or solitaire (okay, you could play solitaire if you had a deck of cards). But all of these things are no longer the reason for having a computer. The reason to have a computer is to connect to the INTERNET!
Lately, it seems like everything revolves around the internet. The the red paperclip guy probably would have never reached his goal of trading up from a single red paperclip to a house without the publicity that his blog gave him. People wouldn't have been intrigued by the 39 dollar experiment guy who sent 100 letters to a 100 companies asking for free stuff(TM). This case of mistaken-cyber-identity would have never happened -- and people across the globe wouldn't be able to connect in the way that they do now. Knowledge and information would not be shared so easily. AOL Representatives wouldn't be fired so quickly over harassing a customer who was trying to cancel their service if that very conversation wasn't posted online for the world to listen to.
The internet is now a social hub. It's a gigantic repository of knowledge. It's an advertisers dream and a marketers nightmare. It's a network of people that includes people from every age group, every culture, every country, every part of the globe. For every newbie on internet, the world seems to shrink just a little bit more. And the possibilities are increasing.