Finally joined the 21st century
Just in time for the 4th of July weekend, we finally got broadband installed — we went from a 56K modem (that normally connected at 44Kbs) to a 5MB/s fiber optic connection.
I like not having to wait forever to download photos or updates for my computer but I’m leery of making life too convenient. When ready made food is everywhere, people eat too much and forget how to cook — paradoxically causing everyone to be overweight even though there’s nothing good to eat. Email and instant messaging have altered the way people communicate so profoundly that many people don’t seem to be able to write a coherent sentence.
Although I think the internet is basically a good thing, it is also harmful if used excessively. One of the advantages of a crummy connection is that there’s no incentive to use the internet unless it’s really important — this forces me to live in the real world rather than in cyberspace.
Although the internet has allowed the world to share information at a level that was never possible before, it has also allowed society to fragment into zillions of tiny subcultures. Each has its own conventions, and it seems like too many people rarely venture outside the virtual groups they associate with. As a result, they prefer relating to machines rather than people have trouble dealing with those who are different from themselves.
The good news is that the internet allows you to contact almost anyone anywhere anytime and maintain contacts and friendships that would otherwise be impossible. In that sense, cyberspace is a good place to be so long as too much time is not spent there.