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How Has The Internet Changed My Life?
I love this question because the answer is cross-generational. I'm a 30 year-old Millennial and have a very different take on this than pre-Millennials and Generation Z folks. For me, immediate access to information has had its positives and negatives.
For example:
- Increased Productivity (Pos)
- Information Overwhelm (Neg)
Life Before The Internet
I was 13 when I had my first computer with dial-up Internet access with a speed of about 300k/s. I've always been an info-hound; held a personality full of curiosity and would spend most of my time at used book stores. Learning something new, or even discovering simple information, was a process:
- Hold a strong desire to discover the answer to a question.
- Leave my house and travel to a bookstore or library.
- Take an educated guess at which book held the answer.
- Skim through the text.
- Didn't find anything? Return to Step 3.
And that was it, sometimes I found what I was looking for and often I didn't. This entire process could take hours. Yeah, it was tedious, but it was also an adventure. Kind of like searching for a collectible comic book for years, then suddenly stumbling upon it spontaneously. That particular feeling of fulfillment has been lessened with websites like eBay or Amazon.
Early Internet Life
Loading pages took minutes, there was no tab browsing, web search kinda sucked, and streaming a game was out of the question. I was young and couldn't see its potential. Honestly, I wasn't impressed.
Enter Ethernet
Everything changed when I received my first cable modem. I don't remember the exact Ethernet speeds, but it was game-changing. Gone were the days where I would be having a conversation with some friends, a question would come up, and no one would know the answer. No longer did we have to accept the fact that we might never know, and move on.
Eventually browsing via HTTP became a more pleasant experience with the introduction of CSS and JavaScript. And with a faster connection, I could play games!
Today, The Internet Assists My Development
What are the step-by-step instructions for that ancient Tibetan contemplative practice? Boom, I can have the answer within minutes.
Do I have a hunger to learn the basics of making a film? There's a free YouTube course for that.
The Internet has also allowed me to share what I have to offer with the world. I myself have a YouTube channel with over 22,000 subscribers:
I've connected with people I would never have otherwise in a life without the Internet. It's provided new social outlets, business opportunities, and improved my overall quality of life. I'm also kind of a shy person and communicating online is a lot easier than speaking in front of groups of people.
A Dark Side
I mentioned earlier about a negative impact the Internet has had on my life: this idea of information overwhelm. Marketing is everywhere on the web. Every person, every website, every application, every service: they're all trying to grab your attention; pop-ups, notifications, etc. Accumulating time online passively will likely have you fall victim to this, decreasing your productivity, and cluttering your mind with thoughts that may overwhelm you.
However, with some active practices filtering information and setting up controls for information streams, this can be remedied. I've heard (although I cannot speak to this) that people who were born after me and do not know what life is like without the Internet, have faster processing abilities and may not be affected by this "information overload" as much as someone like me.
A Life More Connected
In the end, the Internet has allowed me to be connected with more people, more information, and has been a great tool to use in fulfilling my desires. I'm thankful for knowing what life is like without it, but I also would not want to go back.
I'll make an exception for smart phones, I could do without one of those :)