The Internet - Now & Then
Since its conception, the Internet has been the most important invention in recent history, arguably since electricity itself.
It has literally changed the face of humanity forever, and constantly evolves its speed and flexibility.
I remember a time not too long ago when only a few people I knew had the Internet.
I was at school at the time, and only a privileged and technologically advanced few (ha!) had the fortune of a PC and a phone line.
I would more or less constantly be round some poor person's house, excitedly anticipating the clicking and shrieking of their 56k dial-up modem, all the while expecting a scream from downstairs when someone needed to use the phone! Pages loaded slowly, and had even less content than most business cards, but the prospect of this apparently limitless wealth of information astounded me.
During the day at school I would be twiddling my thumbs in lessons, wondering what useless rubbish I could stumble upon that evening.
Then came the social aspect...
The earliest social aspect I could remember were the chat rooms, where millions of anonymous, faceless entities spouted nonsense at each other from every corner of the globe.
Split into their own subject groups, the chat world was a really eye opening experience for someone of my age.
Teenagers struggle with identity at the best of times, but to find people in other countries from other walks of life with similar interests to me was immense.
As time moved on, the Internet got faster and spanned its size on business and official organisations.
More and more companies and groups were putting a web address to their name, or on their products.
There wasn't a great deal to look at on said websites, but it was a prestige thing - if they could AFFORD to get a web page then they meant business! However these days you literally cannot have a self-respecting business without some portion of it being online.
Every product you can pickup in a supermarket, from cans of fizzy drink to cleaning products will have a web address on it somewhere.
So where has it brought us to? I look at kids now who are the age I was when the net came to the masses, and they almost can't breathe without their fix.
But it's not as if they are deprived! You can get on my local bus route now, open up your laptop or iPhone and use the free hi-speed wi-fi provided by the bus company! Failing that, flip your phone and send an email or find the lottery results.
The internet is in homework assignments, and the use of laptops has been incorporated in some exams! There's no argument that it's changed us socially, the way we talk and the way we interact has now changed forever.
It's a lubricant used for meeting new people - hardly anybody meets new friends through work or school anymore.
And don't even THINK about real life dating agencies or simply going out for drinks to find a new partner - just hop online and peruse MySpace! Even bullying isn't done like it was in my day - oh no - these days we have 'memes'; an online community inside joke that often spirals into a worldwide phenomenon, just because some old guy fell over or someone tried to make a rap video.
Yes, arguably a lot of the internet has gone to waste on moronic children who care more about Twittering their bowel movements than self-educating - but whether you like it or not it's here to stay.
It has literally changed the face of humanity forever, and constantly evolves its speed and flexibility.
I remember a time not too long ago when only a few people I knew had the Internet.
I was at school at the time, and only a privileged and technologically advanced few (ha!) had the fortune of a PC and a phone line.
I would more or less constantly be round some poor person's house, excitedly anticipating the clicking and shrieking of their 56k dial-up modem, all the while expecting a scream from downstairs when someone needed to use the phone! Pages loaded slowly, and had even less content than most business cards, but the prospect of this apparently limitless wealth of information astounded me.
During the day at school I would be twiddling my thumbs in lessons, wondering what useless rubbish I could stumble upon that evening.
Then came the social aspect...
The earliest social aspect I could remember were the chat rooms, where millions of anonymous, faceless entities spouted nonsense at each other from every corner of the globe.
Split into their own subject groups, the chat world was a really eye opening experience for someone of my age.
Teenagers struggle with identity at the best of times, but to find people in other countries from other walks of life with similar interests to me was immense.
As time moved on, the Internet got faster and spanned its size on business and official organisations.
More and more companies and groups were putting a web address to their name, or on their products.
There wasn't a great deal to look at on said websites, but it was a prestige thing - if they could AFFORD to get a web page then they meant business! However these days you literally cannot have a self-respecting business without some portion of it being online.
Every product you can pickup in a supermarket, from cans of fizzy drink to cleaning products will have a web address on it somewhere.
So where has it brought us to? I look at kids now who are the age I was when the net came to the masses, and they almost can't breathe without their fix.
But it's not as if they are deprived! You can get on my local bus route now, open up your laptop or iPhone and use the free hi-speed wi-fi provided by the bus company! Failing that, flip your phone and send an email or find the lottery results.
The internet is in homework assignments, and the use of laptops has been incorporated in some exams! There's no argument that it's changed us socially, the way we talk and the way we interact has now changed forever.
It's a lubricant used for meeting new people - hardly anybody meets new friends through work or school anymore.
And don't even THINK about real life dating agencies or simply going out for drinks to find a new partner - just hop online and peruse MySpace! Even bullying isn't done like it was in my day - oh no - these days we have 'memes'; an online community inside joke that often spirals into a worldwide phenomenon, just because some old guy fell over or someone tried to make a rap video.
Yes, arguably a lot of the internet has gone to waste on moronic children who care more about Twittering their bowel movements than self-educating - but whether you like it or not it's here to stay.
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