A Hewlett Packard computer equipped with the brand spankin' new operating system of Windows 95. This was our family's first home computer equipped with this new thing called the Internet. A family friend of ours named Mr. Wesson came over to help set up the new computer than proceeded to introduce us to what the Internet could do. At the time, I was 8 years old and could not even comprehend what the Internet could possibly be. I heard it was along the lines of something that connected every computer in the world together. This still made no sense to me though. Then, Mr. Wesson began our first Internet lesson. With the family tightly crammed around the glowing computer monitor, the first thing he said was a question directed to the youngest in the family, which was me. "Todd, what's your favorite sports team?", he asked. Naturally, I said the Charlotte Hornets. Mr. Wesson than used the Internet Explorer web browser to immediately throw up the official Charlotte Hornets webpage. All of the basketball team's stats where instantly thrown before our eyes. Our minds were blown. The fact that we could summon any tidbit of information within seconds was surreal. For hours we each took turns searching the web and my life has never been the same since.
Now, sixteen years later since my first introduction to the Internet, it's absolutely mind-boggling to see how far the development of technology has come. Imagine if I could go back in time and tell my 8-year old self that in the year 2011 not only will most people own portable cellular telephones, which have actually rendered landline phones as a thing of the past, but that with these phones one can possess the Internet and actually carry it around in their pocket! Surely my younger self would think I fabricating a ridiculous prophecy. But on the other end of the spectrum, it's not illogical to think that in another sixteen years we may look back on the year 2011 and laugh at the primitive technologies that were commonly used and adored. When I look back on my past experiences with the Internet I can't help but recall online activities such as downloading MIDI songs and screen savers, and playing pixelated online computer games. Yet if there is one thing in my life that completely shifted and was forever changed because of the Internet, that would have to be the way I communicated with other people. More specifically, my participation in the concept of "social networking". Eventually there came a time in my life where I was no longer confined to talk to my friends only at school. I would just ride the bus home then hop on the computer and log in to AOL's Instant Messenger and there they were again, displayed as a long list of personalized screen names. This became the norm in communicating with friends and soon there was even a change in vocabulary. "IMing" became a substitute for "talking" to someone. Over time, other terms became part of everyday language such as "friending", "tweeting", and "skyping". The creation of the Internet essentially made the Earth not seem so small after all. The Internet connected the entire world!
Vannevar Bush, an American engineer, once envisioned a device he dubbed a "Memex". This device would allow an individual to store all his books, records, and communications into a mechanized database so that all these things could be viewed later with exceeding speed and flexibility. A Memex would essentially be what he called "an enlarged intimate supplement to one's memory". It's hard to debate against the fact that a Memex seems remarkably similar to the abilities of the modern day computer and the Internet. Bush hoped that by one day making his blueprints of a Memex a reality that this development would most definitely work for the greater good of society. I remember, even at a young age, thinking what the launch of the Internet meant for the future. That anything a person desired to know was accessible right at the end of their fingertips through a computer. As I got older I began to realize I was a part of an exciting period of time and that there was no way that this Internet craze would be a slowly fading trend. Instead I grew aware that this new technological system would inevitably become intertwined with our everyday life.
I can relate to Vannevar Bush when I believe that the development of the Internet subsequently benefited the greater good of society. The Internet has provided more convenient services, delivered various forms of entertainment, affected advertising, boosted commerce, and provided more efficient ways to gather and compare research. Clearly the list of improvements goes on and on. It's hard for me, and many others I'm sure, to imagine life without the Internet, which to me proves just how influential the Internet has been on the human race.
-Todd
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