The Sunday Salon (Internet over the years) -- Apr 04, 2010

Another Sunday is here, and I am thinking the same thing - where did the week go? I literally camped at my lab this week - there was so much work. While I like that kick of adrenaline that usually comes in before a deadline, it also means a casualty - reading.

It's April already and with a jolt, I realized today that some of my friends are just a month and a half from graduation! I myself will graduate in August. So I'm starting to feel the beginnings of the sorrows that will consume me within the next few months. Partings are something I am so poor at handling, in spite of having been through it five times already, and I'm only yet 25! The first time I went through it, was after my 10th grade. I didn't even have an email address then, nor did any of my friends. (I had a PC at home, but my dad used it mainly. Only he had an email address in my house then.) So you can imagine how my friends and I exchanged postal addresses and forget-me-not notes. (I still have them in my home in India.) Over the next few years, I managed to be in touch with two friends of mine by post. Meanwhile, I had taken an internet connection soon after my 10th grade - the connection was shaky and pricey! The computer was the latest HCL model that I wouldn't sit in front of today without scoffing at it. It was plugged to an unreliable electric power that went off whenever it wished. I used it mainly to play Solitaire. :-)

That was 10 years ago! Today, I have 3 email accounts that I check every minute and 2 others that I don't. I have one Facebook and 2 Twitter profiles. I have 2 blogs and right now I am connected to so many bloggers like you, which wasn't even possible 5 years ago? 10 years ago? There's even Yahoo messenger, Gtalk, and Skype. My postal address? Puh-leez! If you are sending me a book, I'm happy. :-) Funny how times have changed, right? And I can't even comprehend how 10 years could change the world so much! I recently connected with all my high-school friends on Facebook. Some have married, some have kids. Some are still studying and dreaming higher. Some are so different from how they were 10 years ago. It never fails to surprise me.

When I see how we connect today, it always makes me wonder how people did it in the past. And then I remember that I didn't grow up with the Internet either and I survived fine. Maybe I did even better then, considering I didn't have to faint at the sight of my Google Reader (Good news on this - I tamed it finally last week!) or worry about missing updates in Facebook and Twitter. I even had more reading time and more television time. And, more family time and more fun with friends that didn't involve any kind of computers. Working at a job and doing a course that needs the computer 24x7 is more of a detriment too, since I have all my networking windows open before opening my work documents. Being connected is a very powerful feeling - to know that you are networked with millions of people the world over who are separated from you by buildings, state borders, continents and oceans, gives an idea of the enormity of this revolution.

Those of you who grew up like me - introduced to the internet much later - do you remember how life was for you before this amazing thing came?

And those of you who used the internet for as long as you remember - do you ever imagine not having it?

While I leave you to think about that, let me mention a couple of awards I received which I'm not passing.

 

I received the Humane Award from Marce @ Tea Time with Marce and Nadia @ A Bookish Way of Life! Thanks so much!! Makes me feel like a great person today! :)

Also, Aleksandra over @ Aleksandra's Corner gave me the Over the Top Award! I know it involves listing one word answers to some great questions, but since I am running out of time, I will give that up for now. Thanks anyways! :)

That's it for now! Happy Easter and happy wonderful Sunday/Monday depending on which side of the world you are! Missing my lovely neighbors from 10 years ago, who used to feed me yummy food on Easter!

Happy Reading and Happy Blogging!