"The Internet" Is Coming!

There was this funny memo from 1994 that NPR had sent out to all its employees, announcing that the internet would be coming to NPR!  It explained what "EMAIL" was going to be like, and how it worked.  I read the memo to Freestone and he thought it was hilarious.  Every time I used the words "The Internet" or "EMAIL," I did air quotation marks, because it was so much funnier that way.  I don't know if these kids can fully appreciate what it was like just 20 years ago, without the ubiquitous high-speed internet that we all enjoy now, let alone what it was like when the only computers I knew about were in the computer lab at the high school!  My kids can't believe I didn't take keyboarding, or "typing," as it was known back then, until 9th grade.  And then there were grumbles from students of, "When will I ever use this?  I'm not planning on being a secretary!"

I told Freestone, amid his gales of laughter, how when Golda was a baby, I would put her down for a nap, and then log onto the internet through dial-up.  It would make that high-pitched squealing noise, and I would try to muffle it with a blanket so it wouldn't wake up the baby.  Soon, if I was lucky enough to get a connection, the computer would tell me enthusiastically, "You've got mail!"  Or...not.  It was such a letdown when the voice didn't say I had mail, since I was paying by the minute for that precious internet connection.

Or how about in high school, when computers were the next big thing and my parents signed up Trajan, Josh and I for a computer class?  We would go to the school and try to play games on the computer.  Lemonade Stand was as far as I ever got, because although Trajan and Josh seemed to have no problem setting up their digital lemonade stands, all I ever got was "Syntax error!  Syntax error!"  I sighed and vowed to wait until computers got smarter before I used them again.  

I dreamed of a day when you could type in a question that wasn't worded exactly right, and the computer would know what you were talking about.  None of this "http/:" business! My dreams have come true!  I can ask my computer, which is at my house now, instead of the high school, any question I can think of.  I can even ask my phone!  To Freestone, that is normal, but the older generation (me!!) laughs when we think about how we used to use card catalogs.  Remember the Dewey Decimal System, and how it was such a big deal when you went to the library?  Now, I search for a book on the library's website, from my phone, and it's waiting for me when I go to the library to pick it up.  Or, better yet, I buy it on my Kindle app (on the trusty phone again), with one click, and it downloads in seconds.  That one-click feature is extremely dangerous for a bibliophile like myself.

Speaking of downloading, back in the day, a picture would take hours to download, and the phone line would be busy the whole time!  Remember this phrase:  "Ugh!  Their line is still busy!  They must be on the internet!"  Yeah, that was when whole families shared a phone line, and it was tethered to their house.  I was infamous at my house for tangling up the phone cord, pacing and twirling around the kitchen as I talked on the phone.  I can twirl all I want now, but it might be difficult to text if I were doing that!

All of this technology seems so commonplace now, it's hard to remember that it has all happened very quickly.  I depend on wifi so much that it's hard to function the same way without it.  For example, I was just driving Golda to play practice and we were discussing how she is going to get from band state solo and ensemble, to her dance company performance Friday.  While I was driving, Golda said to the microphone icon on the phone, "Corner Canyon High School."  Within seconds, we the GPS had given us a map and told us how long it would take to get there in light traffic.  Problem solved.  Our time frame was clear.  I can't fathom having to what, go to the library, to look in some school district binder, to find the address for this other high school, then estimate how long it would take to get there by buggy...just kidding, but do you see how much we have come to expect knowledge and information?  I love it!  

I went to the used book store to find a copy of Don Quixote today, and they didn't have one.  So now I'm going to get it for free on my Kindle and read it...if I can tear myself away from The Internet!!