How the Internet Has Changed the World

How the Internet Has Changed the World
For those who have come to rely on their broadband connection for movies, music, mail, fellowship, earning an income and paying the bills, the rise of the Internet rivals the invention of the wheel, the phone, the TV and the ATM all put together. Just 20 years ago, sending a letter took from a few days to a few weeks, and the cost kept rising every year. Video rental stores were everywhere, and people still spent hours in libraries among the books and shelves.
Life is entirely different today, and it didn't take long for people to take the Internet for granted. When a Web page is anything short of instant-loading, or a download takes an extra few seconds, many of us roll our eyes and complain -- even those who can remember the day when none of this stuff happened at any speed, period. Let us look at a few different slices of modern life and see what the Internet hath wrought:

Making and spending money

Writers, artists, reviewers, editors, filmmakers and all sorts of other professionals in a wide range of disciplines can now "telecommute," and although that term never quite caught on the concept certainly did. With the Internet, both employers and employees can take advantage of the "virtual workplace," ushering in a new age of efficiencies to many firms. Not only can you make money without leaving home, you can spend it, too. Direct deposit, Web bill payments, PayPal and all your investment and bank accounts are handled with your PC and its ability to make all the right connections.

The reach of commerce

Historically, businesses would live or die based on what local patrons in their area bought or didn't buy. Today, businesses can reach around the planet, while consumers from any spot on the globe can reach them, too. Some businesses exist mainly, even solely, on the Internet, but the marketing opportunities the Web opened up have changed the way every company promotes its wares and services. The Internet has even given companies ways to hire and do background checks on employees, as well as quick credit checks on customers. No one waits for much of anything with the "always on" Internet.

Relationships

"Socializing" has taken on new meanings and dimensions in the Brave New Internet World. Not only are there sites specifically made for making friends, lovers and spouses, there are tons of Web forums and destinations for people of common interests to virtually "hang out." You can search your own genealogy, or a friend's, and locate long-lost relatives (as well as school chums). Although the naysayers in the early days of the Internet saw the new communications system as helping to "atomize" and separate people, it has rather dramatically created entirely new communities, in cyberspace as well as down the block.

Staying in touch

E-mail is only the most obvious and most used of the new communications methods. The Internet makes staying in touch much easier, in a number of different ways. With most new laptops and netbooks -- with greater total sales than desktops for a couple of years running now -- having built-in cameras and microphones, using an online videoconferencing service is easy, simple and free. It has never been as easy, or as cheap, to stay in touch.

Privacy and security

There are drawbacks to the Internet, too, the primary one being the various threats to privacy and security. Some critics say that your personal information is not personal anymore, and never will be. This is good news if you are a private detective or someone who needs to investigate others, perhaps not such good news if your credit card numbers and Social Security information is floating around the Web. The best you can do is stop sending any more information into the abyss -- and if you have not started doing so, consider a strategy that limits your sharing of the most sensitive kind.

And the future?

The Internet truly has changed the world in almost countless ways, some for the better, some for the worse and some in ways we may not discern for some time yet. Clearly, the Internet is not going to disappear, but just as clearly it will continue to evolve and change as we move into the future with so many different interest groups, companies, politicians and everyday computer users pushing and pulling at its components. Computers will get faster, broadband will get broader and services will continue to expand to fill every sort of need.
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