The history of the Internet is not long, but has had a great impact on almost everyone’s life worldwide. It has definitely made our lives far easier, and has aided us in getting things done more quickly. More importantly to us, without the internet, a business like ours couldn’t operate.

Soon we will be using VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) for phone calls. We currently use email & Skype. We constantly swap files between New Zealand and Chicago over FTP servers, and hold meetings by video conference. We use wireless, Blackberries, remote networking, texting, web enabled fax and phone lines, the list grows daily as we try new things, reject some, and embrace others.

To even imagine doing all this a few years ago would have been impossible. Technology is changing at such an incredible rate. Improved technology has grown the speed at which we can work and our productivity levels considerably, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Being 30 years old, I remember life before the Internet clearly. I used it for the first time in 1997. When I was in high school we still did not have an internet connection at my school. Computers were used for running programs like ClarisWorks and you saved your files on a 3.5″ floppy. In 1999 a friend took me to an internet café and showed me how to set up hotmail, my first ever email account. I remember the old days when you had to go to the post office to send your mail, you needed a landline to call your loved ones. You had to go to the library to do research work. You used photo albums to paste your pictures.

Now, I shop online, research products and services, read the news, watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, watch my favorite TV shows the night after they are screened in the US, keep in touch with friends and family, and now, blogging!

  • There are a lot of benefits for having the internet, I find myself…
  • paying more attention to current events (because of reading the news more often on the Internet)
  • reading more books (because I found good reviews on the Internet)
  • listening to more music (that I downloaded off the Internet)
  • watching more TV (because I can keep up with episodes I missed on the Internet)
  • being closer to old friends and family (because of email) and Skype.

Of course the flip side is that this all creates more demands on our time, and sometimes it’s difficult not to feel under siege 24/7 from a tsunami of data, information and correspondence. It’s as important to know when to switch off, as when to tune in.

Trying to imagine life without the internet is challenging. I don’t think I could go much longer than 24 hours without using the internet in my day-to-day life now. I know I wouldn’t like to try!

Here are some interesting facts about the internet.

  • According to Pew Internet and American Life Project data from March, 2007, 91% of US Internet users have gone online and sent or read email.
  • The same source suggests that 56% do this as part of a typical day.
  • An October 2007 report by technology market research firm The Radicati Group estimates that there are 1.2 billion email users in 2007, expected to rise to 1.6 billion by 2011.
  • An October 2006 report from the same source suggests that some 183 billion emails were sent each day in 2006 and that wireless email users will grow “from 14 million in 2006, to 228 million in 2010.”
  • Ferris Research estimates the number of business email users in 2007 at around 780 million.

Blogonista - Liz

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