Whoa, the Internet is like so fast now!
Yesterday, Natalie pointed out a typo on my website. “Oh!” I said. Without leaving my chair, I picked up my phone, opened the WordPress app, and fixed the mistake. In 10 seconds, it was instantly updated. I then gasped, “Whoa, the Internet is like so fast now!”
Fact: Natalie already made fun of me for that astute observation.
Now, I recognize reminiscing about dial-up Internet and AOL is going to be my generation’s version of “When I was your age, I had to walk to school in the snow up mountains without shoes!” But seriously, yesterday, I was reminded how good we really have it technology-wise.
I’ll admit it: I’m still impressed with the speed of our digital world. In my defense, I was using a typewriter to complete essays for school 15 years ago. I can still remember the feeling of anxiety while typing with two fingers. One mistake and I’d be fighting with whiteout, ignoring my dad’s observation: “Face it, Mike, you have to type that essay again.”
Fact: The first time I said the “f” word in front of my parents was because of the typewriter.
Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat cites Windows 95, the World Wide Web, and Netscape as influential in changing–flattening–our world. I know Friedman’s right, but when I first saw AOL at my friend’s house, my initial reaction was, “Wow, this is really slow. Let’s go play Mario Kart.”
Using the Internet in 95 was like watching a turtle cross the road. I would have rather played Frogger. Remember the dial up noise from the modem? I bet you’ve forgotten how common it was to get knocked off line. We complain about our cell phone coverage now-a-days, but fifteen years ago teenage boys waited twenty minutes to download a 1000KB JEPG of Alicia Silverstone.
Fact: My parents claim Kurt Cobain ruined their son, but it was actually Aerosmith’s music videos.
And let’s not forget the worst part of the dial-up Internet era: Parents yelling at us for tying up the phone line! My mother’s first experience with the Internet was picking up the phone and hearing a harsh dissonance. Or maybe it was hearing the dial-up modem late at night when she was trying to sleep.
Fact: My mother hated the Internet in the 90s.
When I was in high school, I couldn’t stop complaining like a toddler how the Internet was slow. Now I’m 29 and can’t stop commenting like a senior citizen how fast the world has gotten.
No really! It’s so fast! I can stream a gig live using UStream; I can record and upload a video in HD to Youtube; I can record a demo of a song and publish it Facebook; I can write this blog. All on my fricking cell phone!
I’m not sure if I should be jealous or thankful that my teenage self didn’t have this power.
