Internet And My Life
In the 10 years since Internet Explorer was first released as an add-on for Windows 95,the Internet landscape has changed in many ways — maturing from an environment populated mainly by the military,academia and professional research groups into a world open to everybody in which sound,movement,and dynamic content is the norm.
It is difficult to underestimate the change that easy and widespread access to the Internet has made to our way of life."The Web" is now so popular it has permeated our everyday life,changing how we stay in touch,share information,complete chores,and even earn an income.A whole new industry has sprung up dedicated to providing new ways to improve productivity,in the process changing how we communicate and allowing us to fit ever more into our ever busier lives.
When we think of the Internet,and how it has changed our lives,the first things that come to mind for many are e-mail,Internet banking,and online shopping.But there is so much more than that.As part of preparing for this column,I had a look at all of computers in my home,old and new,to see what we had installed over time.
Over the years my family and I have used an amazing array of programs as part of our day to day life including flight trackers when any of us are traveling,scrolling stock tickers to monitor our investments,online news and weather alerts and e-mail subscriptions.I also found quite a few instant messenger programs including ICQ,Microsoft MSN,AOL,Trillian,Yahoo Messenger,and Google Talk.