How has the Internet Transformed our Lives?

How has the Internet Transformed our Lives? When Al Gore invented the internet back in the early 1990’s (haha), Americans never imagined how different our lives would become a mere 20 years later. We never thought we would feel lost if we left the house without our phones. We could not imagine that we would be able to settle an argument with the click of a button by looking up something on what is called Wikipedia. The number of ways the internet has transformed our lives are endless; however, today’s blog will focus on three main ways: business, education and gaming. According to Jeff Bullas’s article about 10 Ways Social Media is Transforming our World, we now have “the power to reach anyone.” (Bullas 2012) That is certainly the principle about using the internet for business, called e-commerce. An August 8, 2018 article by Puneet Bhalla entitled “How has the Internet Changed our Lives,” states that “more and more people are using it as a great platform to promote their goods and services. (Bhalla 2018)” There has been an increase of web marketing and international selling. Facebook can be used to make contact with possible customers on the local level especially, but also domestically and internationally. Online auctions on web sites like ebay have been a staple on the internet from the start. Likewise, online shopping sites like Amazon are taking over the world, making large dents in physical shopping experiences like the suburban shopping mall. Physical brick and mortar stores are becoming more like showcases where shoppers can look at and touch the sale items but then they go to the internet to find a better price or have it shipped directly to their home or the home of a loved one. You used to need a notebook, textbook, pens and paper in order to learn. In addition, the teacher needed a blackboard, chalk, audio visual equipment, a copier, and a ton of other supplies in order to teach. Today, it does not matter if you are at the University of Chicago or in a hut made of mud somewhere in Africa, if you have a computer and an internet connection, you can be educated about anything, at any time, anywhere. According to a February 20, 2015 article by Andrew Keen entitled “How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity,” Google processed 40,000 search queries a second, equal to 1.2 trillion searches a year (Keen 2015). Google allows us to search any subject at a moment’s notice. It is no longer necessary to make a trip to the library or search manually through an encyclopedia. Many colleges offer on line classes; allowing the person seeking the knowledge to attend the college of their choosing without ever having to leave the comfort of their own living room. Someone from California or even a different continent can attend a prestigious institution like Harvard Law school but do not ever have to set foot in Boston. Also the internet allows people to share their knowledge through sites like Wikipedia. Bullas states “we learn from each other” and he calls it “crowd sourced wisdom.” (Bullas 2012) Although most of the Keen’s article has a negative view about the internet, it does say “if used critically, [it] can be a source of great enlightenment in terms of the global sharing of ideas and information. (Keen 2015)” The internet can also be used for fun stuff. The gaming entertainment business is huge. What started out as video gaming consoles and later CD-ROM’s or other software that you could download, the internet reinvented the gaming experience. First of all, games are always at our finger tips. If waiting in line at the bank or grocery store, you can pull up a game of candy crush. But more than that, the games are now interactive with other players around the globe. You can challenge someone in Korea to a game of Battleship or someone in Italy to a game of checkers. According to Bhalla, “Most of the online games offer a great gaming experience for you. The graphics are wonderful and you can have a real life feeling.” (Bhalla 2018) The games can be simple puzzles, simulation/social games or even used as teaching tools. Sporting events can be watched live on any smart device. If your baseball team’s game is blacked out on the TV in your city, no problem. The Oakland fan who lives in Yankee country can still watch the game on their tablet. There are even ways to earn money playing games on line. If you are good at blackjack, why bother going to the local casino and you can play high stakes, real cards virtually in a gaming internet environment? There is no doubt that the internet has changed our lives. Some would argue that it is more for the worse than the better but others would say that the internet has greater improved our lives allowing for any small business to make money globally, for people in remote areas to receive an excellent education and for providing endless hours of fun and entertainment. Either way, the internet is here to stay and continues to evolve and improve our lives. Works Cited Bhalla, Puneet. 2018. How has the Internet Changed our Lives. August 8. Accessed May 29, 2019. https://360.shiprocket.in/blog/how-internet-changed-our-lives/. Bullas, Jeff. 2012. 10 Ways Social Media is Transforming our World. February 6. Accessed May 29, 2019. http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/06/10-ways-social-media-is-transforming-our-world/. Keen, Andrew. 2015. How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity. February 20. Accessed May 29, 2019. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2962509/How-internet-destroying-pioneers-hoped-web-transform-society-devastating-new-book-says-way-diminishes-humanity.html.