My first encounter with the internet

My First Internet Encounter

My family has owned a computer since the early 90’s, so by the time I first used the internet, I was well aware of how to use and navigate the computer. I remember the day that my parents brought the computer home, and how overwhelmed I was over this massive “cow box” being carted into my house. The computer was the Gateway 2000, one of the “it” computers at the time. I thought to myself, “what is this contraption, and why did my parents buy this”? Only to realize later, that the internet was the most awesome fad ever, considering I could play games on it including Barbie Fashion Show, but that was my “kid-like” logic. Now, I find that it was more than just being able to play games; it represented a change in lifestyle. Still to this day, that computer still works and is still residing in our house.

Although, I have used a computer since the 90’s, my first brush of the internet was in fifth grade when we moved into our new house, and the computer took up residence in my room. Ten years ago, the internet to be had was dial up and, of course with that, AOL. I remember the first time I ever heard the dial up sound and was fascinated that by just dialing into something you couldn’t see, you were pronounced on the internet. And, as part of the AOL experience, you heard “welcome” by some computer generated voice when you were connected, and if you had mail, you heard “you’ve got mail”. My first ever email address was lizzytambo@aol.com, made by my father, who at that time felt that he should set my family up with an email address. My only email pal was my Grandpa, but just being able to use email was good enough for me. Looking back now, the internet was way too slow, it took forever to even load a page, but at that time it was the best invention.

The internet to me meant endless possibilities; I could do basically anything I wanted. Internet was the place with no boundaries and I was mesmerized that I had that ability just by clicking the mouse. At the time navigating to kid friendly game websites, instant messaging with friends, and emailing anyone was “the” thing to do. Exploring the avenues of the internet between the World Wide Web, instant messaging, and email I learned that you could keep in touch with anyone even if they were miles and miles away. Internet was like my own social network, I could email and chat with others on A.I.M way before MySpace and Facebook came around. In school, it was required for us to learn how to use the computer, and by eighth grade we had to take and pass what was called the Computer Application Test to make sure we knew how to use a computer. Even in the classroom itself, teachers were requiring that we research for information via an online source. It became a necessity to own a computer and have internet access, based on this; school alone was a major influence on my use of the internet.

 From my experience, I believe the internet to most represent the ideas of Vannevar Bush. Along with many technology predecessors before it, the internet represents the sole idea of one individual such as with Bush’s dream of the memex. The memex was a machine that by the operator’s control, stored books, records, and communications or by twenty first century standards, an early version of the computer. The memex and the internet represent the way of forward thinking, not a plot end the beauty of the world.  I, like Bush had become captivated by this new invention, and wondering what this invention would lead to. In the outside world, all forms of intelligence, whether of sound or sight, have been reduced to the form of varying currents in an electric circuit in order that they may be transmitted. Inside the human frame exactly the same sort of process occurs. Must we always transform to mechanical movements in order to proceed from one electrical phenomenon to another”? I find that this quote by Bush best represents the idea of the internet; we should not have to transform or ease into the mechanical movements of new technology but instead, embrace it.

 Sure, technology has its downfalls, for example, with the internet we lose some of our face to face communication. Hawthorne, is the clear representation of that other group of people who over analyze technological progress. “Truly may it be said, that the world looks darker for it. In one way or another, here and there, and all around us, the inventions of mankind are fast blotting the picturesque, the poetic, and the beautiful out of human life.” Now, although it is overly dramatic Hawthorne has a point here, but he is forgetting that although the fireplace was beautiful it was not as safe as a wood burning stove, and the wood burning stove was easier to cook with. Instead of seeing the negative effects of the stove, he should realize that the stove was not invented to ruin the world, but to make things safer and more convenient. I have known no one to look back and say that the computer or the internet should have never been invented, what would be the point of turning back now? And, I’m sure back when the stove was invented, no one, (well besides Hawthorne) would say I would like to switch back to a fireplace. Like the wood burning stove, the internet has come, and we can’t just erase it completely from our lives. So, if you oppose the internet, you better learn to sit back and enjoy the ride because the internet is never going to go away.

 Whether people believe it or not, the computer and the internet have benefited all of us. The internet is the invention of our generation and it is still growing to bigger and better things. Bush was right when he said that “science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual.” Through science knowledge has evolved, and so now knowledge is evolving even more through the internet.