TellerCreations.com

The Internet and Our Society

The Internet has completely changed our lives. Society has completely succumbed and adapted to all its great benefits and perks. It has affected the way we use a map, read the news, and even watch TV. Without giving much thought, it has turned the single-taskers to multi-taskers.

The Internet is a global system of computer networks. It gives computers the ability to communicate with one another across the globe. Literally. The Internet was invented and first put to use in the 1960s for strictly government and military use. It wasn't until the mid 1990s where personal computers with Internet capabilities began showing up in American homes.

You might be asking yourself how the Internet works. The network that computers use to communicate is what is called the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). As we all know, the Internet is a vast resource for data and information. It is all about how fast we can receive information, which is probably why the military used it.

You could write a book on all the things one can do with the Internet. Some of the popular choices include messaging and friending on Facebook, downloading, uploading and watching home videos and even clips of your favorite TV shows on Youtube, or buying and downloading music on iTunes. It is easy to bookmark these sites by using the "favorites" or "bookmarks" tool in your Internet browser and visit them whenever you want. These sites see millions and millions of users and visitors each day.

The Internet is all around us. More and more Wi-Fi "hot spots" are popping up in cities and towns. Local coffee shops and restaurants, airports, and libraries all offer free Wi-Fi access to their customers and visitors. As time goes on, we will begin to see them more and more in other locations such as gyms, schools, and hospitals.

As the appearance and popularity of Wi-Fi hot spots and hand-held technologies continue to grow, it has become as easy as a press of a button to access the Internet. Some gadgets out there now don't even require a button; you can set notifications to alert you whenever a Wi-Fi signal in your area is available. Remember the days of accessing the Internet by using a phone line and sometimes waiting up to ten minutes for a dial-up connection? With high speed cable Internet and fiber optics now readily available, those days are long gone.

The Internet is like anything else. It can be really beneficial, but too much of it can lead to problems. It is probably safe to say that in another decade or less, we will be able to connect to the Internet from anywhere using any kind of device. With 2011 just beyond the horizon, we can walk into a McDonald's and check our email or Facebook pages by using a cell phone or iPod.

Many believe that in the future we will no longer have to go to work or school. All business and education will be done solely from a computer. There are already education portals that children and teachers use to communicate with one another on homework, tests, and other projects. There are entire advanced degree programs that are 100% Internet based. It is very easy for people to work from home with external email and VPN access. There are even some companies who let their employees work from home several days per week! It's not that far off.

Learn more at Charles Granere and everything about information technology.