The Beast being the Internet that is...the WorldWideWeb! When did you become aware of the Internet? In 1999, I was the head of HR for a company that was acquired and all our corporate office employees (including myself) were loosing their jobs. At the time, I remember hearing talk about job postings on "the Monster Board." I really didn't pay much attention. Six months later, I returned to Atlanta and began working with my now business partner. Note: In 1991, this guy had a McInstosh (yep, now what we simply call Apple) computer on his desk. No one else knew what it was but he did all kinds of cool stuff. You can tell where this is going.....he introduced me to the WWW (handheld devices too - we had Palms back then). He said you have to subscribe to Mindspring; it's the coolest, newest provider. OK, I didn't go the AOL route and went with Mindspring.
I started with emails, junk mail, online shopping and quickly moved to research (for work and play) then directions, phone numbers (not sure when the printed phone books went out) and online bill paying. And now is it just about everything - movies, TV, music, phone calls (VoIP and Skype), networking (LinkedIn, Yelp, Facebook, MySpace of the days ago), blogging and the list goes on.
Is the world sort of getting smaller? Recently I reconnected with an old roommate. I hadn't talked to her in 30 years. It was amazing to catch up. I'm on LinkedIn, FB and I love Yelp. A couple people found me on Yelp and have reached out to connect on some stuff. People I probably would never have known otherwise. It's SO cool. My niece was in Israel for a couple months. I kept up with her on FB and was more connected to her than her parents. They were always shocked I knew what their daughter was doing in Israel. I kept saying the Internet....!!!!
I'm curious how others use the Internet in cool ways. How do you use it? What is next for us?
I love using the Internet to keep up with people that I would have lost touch with otherwise. For example, growing up I went to CF camp and would write my camp friends letters in the mail throughout the year. However, there became a point that we lost touch. Now, though, I can just search for a name and end up connected to an entire group of people I used to know.
ReplyDeleteI also love it because, when random thoughts cross my mind, I can look up the answer. I might hear a phrase and wonder where it originated, and then search for it and have the answer. It's so much fun!
It's also nice to never have to call someone for directions and repeat them back over the phone anymore...