20 Ways the Internet Spoils Us
February 6, 2008 by Deb Ng
Filed under Freelance Writing
If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time online – and it’s not just for work, either. Even though I grew up in the days of vinyl records, before cable TV or VCRs, I feel as if I can’t get by without technology. Today I was thinking about all the things we can do online and how much we take for granted. Behold 20 Ways the Internet Spoils Us.
- We look for work online – Back in the day we used pound the pavement. Today we pound the keyboard.
- We shop for gifts online – Remember browsing through all those quaint shops to find that perfect gift? Now we prefer shopping online to the mall.
- We shop for food online – Now you don’t have to be embarrassed about your neighbors catching you with a shopping cart filled with pork rinds and chips.
- We rent videos online – Netflix is ever more convenient than BlockBuster.
- We meet people online – Who needs to go out with there’s Skype?
- We date online - Why bother with clubs when you have Match.com?
- We research online – It’s not always accurate, but it’s better than having to get dressed and go out.
- We choose music online – Part of the fun of shopping for music used to be checking out album covers. Now we just download the songs we want.
- We check out library books online – We don’t even have to browse if we don’t want to, we can just check off what we need and have it waiting when we get there.
- We communicate via email or IM – Who bothers with a phone any more.
- We read the news online – No longer do we have to make that long trek to the bottom of the driveways to retrieve the newspaper. Magazines and newspapers all have their top stories online.
- We do people checks online – No need to hire a private eye or call jobs. We have Google.
- We conduct interviews online – Just send over those questions and wait for the response.
- We share photos online – I remember when it used to take weeks to get photos back. Now we can upload and send them to all of our friends.
- We work online- Why bother commuting when everything we need is at home?
- We have sex online – It’s not my thing, but it’s going on.
- We play games online – Either by ourselves or with others. You’re never alone online.
- We watch movies online-And it’s cheaper than the theater.
- We can change our appearance online – The Internet allows us to be whoever we want to be.
- We share information online – And that’s a wonderful thing.
Don’t forget the going craze–file taxes online (for an electronic refund!)
We get paid online, too! Woo hoo!
. . . and attend college, and pay bills . . .
I’m busted – I do most of the above daily and all of them at one time or another!
Nice list, Deb.
I also bank online and handle mailing, shipping and pay for postage online.
Jeff
@Lee Ann-Shhhh you aren’t supposed to tell people about number 16…teehee.
Great list Deb!
I think you covered them all! It’s amazing how much the world has changed in just a few short years, isn’t it?
kk
Great list, Deb!
Makes me wonder how I lived before www.
Good list! Makes me think we should now get outside and “play” more …
Scribette,
The worst part is when my two teens e-mail each other while they’re in the same room rather than just talking to each other.
Well, an untoward effect of all our online activities is a widening of the hips caused by more sitting and less movement. Maybe someone soon will design a treadmill we can walk while we do the rest of our business and pleasure online.
And, if that treadmill activity is what will be required to power our computers, we’d surely have incentive to walk, walk, walk! : )
When we first got email and the internet at the Governor’s office, I was fascinated to just watch the rows of pages appear on AOL. Now it’s just slow and frustrating:-)
Phil – all I can say to that comment is “wow”!
LL – that is an interesting concept!
@LL I am right there with you!
@Phil Unfortunately I have experienced the same thing. My children have done it too me. They are in the other room and IM or PM me instead of coming to me…cracks me up.
@ Laura: My husband was upstairs one day and I was in the basement. Instead of coming downstairs to talk to me, he called me from his cell phone.
Good thing I’m the only tech-savvy person in this house. I can’t imagine life without shouting matches and casual banters.
Ah, vinyl!
I still have a soft spot for the old LP. I still think they sound better than anything we’ve come up with since. I blogged about it at the link below if anyone cares to see what a nostalgic old git I really am.
Cheers to all,
Steve R.
http://sunshinedrenchy.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2006-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=8
I should have mentioned the fact that the post in question is the one with the header–”Is that your vinyl answer?”
Sorry about forgetting that. I was in too much of a hurry to check my e-mail!
Phil – (or other tech writers) I have a question! I usually write tech articles (with interviews and such). Just curious as to what are “normal” rates for 250-500 word descriptions of technical services for an ecommerce business?
All of these things (especially #17) make it harder than most people would imagine to work at home on the computer. People ask me, “Don’t your eyes hurt by the end of the day?” Not usually, but sometimes I’m appalled at how much time I’ve wasted when I should have been working.
I’m seeing my sons, especially my nine year old, already developing something of an addiction to using the computer. It’s difficult to make them understand time limits when Mom is working on the computer hours at a time. Ideally, we’d have a computer-free day…actually, we usually do on Sunday but not always.