I cannot imagine my world without the Internet anymore. Sure, it can be a total time waster as well as a great way to part with your money but I have learned so much from online sources.
Take this blog for instance. I am communicating with people I would not likely have a chance to meet in my day to day life. And I would not say that this hobby is taking away anything from my regular life. I've added to it, not substitute it for something else, increasing the dimensions of it.
Like a lot of people I know, I was a late adapter to Facebook (cannot see myself considering Twitter -- Don't want to be plugged in that much...) and have caught up with many friends from around the world since.
Probably only have 5 people who I see regularly as "friends" as this is a tool I use for people I don't live close to.
Another case at point. I just paid the rest of our balance for the apartment we are renting in Berlin and the booking deposit for the one I'm renting in BA, using PayPal. When I first heard of it, I thought it was a crazy concept.
What use case would there be for people to deal with a vendor whereby I would want to hide my credit card number?! Not anymore. You can't beat the convenience.
Sure there is a fee sometimes but when you are taking a crazy early flight and need to get your security deposit back after check out, it's nice to know it can just be credited it back without inconveniencing anyone.
Plus, it is less cash I have to be carrying around. The world has just expanded just that much more.
I feel the same way. I've grown so used to having the Internet to communicate, find information, connect with old friends and friends who live far away through Facebook (though I don't use it often), and now this hobby of blogging.
ReplyDeleteMy town, because of budget reasons, has even decided not to send out seasonal newsletters anymore. Instead, residents are encouraged to sign up for the newsletter to be emailed to us directly. It’s both environmentally friendly & cost effective!
I also feel the same way and just recently got internet at home. I've met some really interesting people through my blog also that I would have never met. Plus being able to do such things as book flights, accomodations and do online banking at a moment's notice is an asset.
ReplyDeleteHave you been watching the flight cancellations to Europe from Canada and the US due to the erupting volcano in Iceland? Not sure when you and D are heading to Europe but I have 3 weeks until my flight leaves to France and there's really no end in slight to the eruptions they say...should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra!
ReplyDeleteI get most of my mail paperless now. It is a great service and the wave of the future, I think.
I've read a lot of negative opinions about internet usage ie. how it isolates people etc. and I believe like most things, it is an issue of moderation ie. too much of most things isn't good!
This is when I like to jump up and down and say "Just use your common sense people!"
Hi Sue!
I really feel the world has already moved in that direction. As much as I have fought it, I am so happy I've embraced it. It may still take a long time before I'll ever have a cell phone plan though...
Yes, I have been following the volcano news. Who could have guessed how widespread the result would be?! It seriously blows my mind!
I hope you will not be impacted by it and by the time 3 weeks rolls around, they will have enough practice of re-routing people, it ought to be (hopefully) slightly easier.
We'll be criss crossing each other across the Atlantic as our timelines overlap a bit. I'm keeping my ear close to the ground on this one.
We are looking into alterate tranportation ie. train, just in case we need it as we connect in Amsterdam...that is if we make it that far... :)