So I got thinking this morning and I can’t really remember life without having the Internet. I mean I know it did exist, but its been such an integral part of my life being a computer engineer and all, that it’s hard to remember not having it. From the early days of college/university when people used to laugh at you using email to making webpages in hard core HTML to work in Netscape 3.0, ah those were the days.
Now I come in to work and if there is something that isn’t sorted, I immediately go to Google and ask my best friend and within minutes (99% of the time) I know the answer. I’m constantly checking email, whether it be from the office, via remote web access, via Citrix or even on my Windows Mobile PDA, it’s something almost any computer engineer can’t live without.
I’m sure there are others of you as well who are in the same boat, just admit it! What would life be if we had the plug pulled on something we’re so used to now – which was originally labelled “childs play” and people said it wouldn’t go anywhere (http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554)
#1 by Joanne on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 16:32
Wow that is an old article… … it’s amazing to see many of the visionary predictions have come true. I am tele-commuting, and we do have an interactive (semi) library!
Life without internet – the world will surely become bigger, and me smaller… I had no internet for about a week when I was on holiday in China in July – I started asking people for information, and of course got many contradicting answers. It felt limiting, and helpless sometimes – for I can’t get online and message my friend for help. But it sure felt good to turn on my out-of-office reply and said “no email access”. That was an era when people actually have to physically find you, and you can hide – now, can I?
What amazes me, and actually scares me a little, is where technology will take us in the future. What will our life be 10 years down the road? Will everyone of us carry an RFID? Or will us be located easily by satellite? Cell phones nowadays already have some of the function (like locating where you are and tell you what restaurants are around…) And also computer engineering… it is a very complex thing to me today, but will that be 10 years down the road? I saw a software they are using to teach CS student programming (Alice), and it bewilded me on how people will think different with new technology coming out everyday.
Anyways… reading too many sci-fiction.