In an age where your go-to device is typically a mobile phone or tablet computer, spare a thought for the desktop that you first got and the Internet connection that required prayers to work. Yes, it's the 25th birthday of the Internet today!
Years ago, we thought Snake on our Nokia mobile phones was a great invention, Microsoft Word's array of fonts including Comic Sans MS and Century Gothic was creatively genius and that Ask Jeeves - not Google - held the answers to our problems.
On its 25th birthday (officially born on March 12, 1989), we consider how the Internet has developed, changed our lives and the reasons we are addicted to it.
Before 1989, we still had the internet, but the idea of "websites" was alien, people connected through bulletin-board systems (forums) and email (think of how MySpace and Twitter differ in their formats). It was Sir Tim Berners Lee who revolutionised the World Wide Web:
In 1990, Berners Lee released his coding to the world, free of charge, turning the Internet 'from a geeky data-transfer system embraced by specialists and a small number of enthusiasts into a mass-adopted technology', according to the Pew Research Center’s The Web at 25 report.
Data reveals that today, 97% of 18-29-year-olds use the Internet, whereas in 1995, 42% of Americans had never heard of the Internet. (Source: NBC News)
We understand that the Internet will be a major player in the changing technological landscape for decades to come, but what is it about the World Wide Web that we already love so much...?
No matter who we are, we find a place we belong to
It's true that there are many forums, Facebook groups, dating websites and 'virtual worlds' on the Internet, which is why it's so easy for our personalities to find a place to call home online. We can find people via geographical location, educational background, interests, hobbies - anything, we mean anything.
It's the real home of democracy
When President Obama was re-elected in the last election, his followers took sides, choosing different Twitter handles to RT and show support, creating websites, following his websites and social media accounts. On the other side, Mitt Romney's followers did the same.
The Internet is a place for EVERYONE to not only find 'a place we belong', but to share opinions and thoughts with those who agree and disagree. You are able to 'have a say', for the most part you won't be judged or stopped and sometimes you just need a pretty anonymous place to vent...
It doesn't scare easily (it might scare you, though...)
The Internet is filled with what we'd say is genius, weird, wonderful and just plain awkward. There are lots of videos, websites and images that have probably mentally scarred us, but we still love that it doesn't freak out. Instead, it sometimes freaks us out...
Information at your fingertips
On a more serious note, the Internet has opened up the news landscape, meaning 24 hours news really is that - the news is on the Internet before the news (channels) themselves. Since the Internet, we now can walk down an NYC pavement while we're slouched on the sofa in our PJs and chat with South Africans via video link or find out the latest news in Sydney, Australia.
To summarise: How. Did. We. Ever. Live. Before?
