Internet Studies Assignment #1

           When the Internet and I First Met

            I’m not sure what age most people in my generation were exposed to the internet, but I wasn’t exposed until later I’m sure. My mother wasn’t the indoor entertainment kind of person; I did sports and rode my horses instead. Though my exposure might have been delayed, one of my earliest encounters with the internet, that I have a clear memory of, was in middle school. I went to school in here in North Carolina close to where I lived in Apex, at West Lake Middle School.

           I had extensive knowledge of computers in elementary school. When I was in fourth grade, we switched through two different classes at Holly Springs Elementary. Half the day was spent in one classroom with one teacher for science and math, the other was spent in English and history with again, another separate teacher. Well my science and math teacher was involved in the church, and she did Sunday school if my memory serves me well. Ms. Teacher ( to keep real people safe and all ) didn’t have good computer skills, so every period I went to the lab and typed up these little books, added graphics and all other good stuff.

          So thus learning the World Wide Web wasn’t too complicated. It was in the beginning of my middle school career, when I remember AOL Instant Messenger, otherwise known in acronym form as A.I.M. It was at my neighbor’s house with my friend Brooke; she was always on that damn computer. I remember it clearly, wondering why this thing was SO much fun that you got up from your seat every time you heard a beep, or every time a little ghetto ( in today’s terms ) box. Eventually I learned that all of our friends had A.I.M, and since at that time in the world, we didn’t have cell phones till at least fifteen years old, was perfect for communication.

           It wasn’t too long after the real knowledge of this screen that sucked my friend in that I myself got a screen name. A screen name was something you called yourself online, which your friends knew you by when you appeared on their buddy list. A buddy list you could categorize to put all your friends in, and that’s how you knew people were online. Soon this began to boom and technologies came out to fill in your information, and make away notes for others to see when you weren’t online. The info people learned funky colors, and funky fonts. Last but not least, there was that little icon box.

           There were trends that came and went as fast as wind with these. We all participated, it became competitive. This form of communication was the first tool of its kind, before MySpace and Facebook, to socially contact to each other. At one time or another this system advanced, you could and did, send links and music. You were able to transmit data in such a simple way, it was amazing. Now the trend has finally died out due to Facebook’s enormous data base of people, messaging, chatting and many other things I’m positive that I am not aware of.

           Considering my friend’s computer was her own, considering she used it to store the music she listened to while she used the computer, and she saved information on it, I believe that Vannevar Bush got the closet with his dream of the “memex”. A “memex” defined by Bush himself is, “a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.”

           All that Bush dreamt of in the beginning was to build a machine, first and foremost that would not be used to kill people, or bring destruction. Post World War II left the scientist yearning for projects, proclaimed Bush in the beginning of his article on the futuristic “memex”. He spoke of all the progression in other technological fields of entertainment such as photography, and his dream of dry photography. In 1945 the only photography know to be used, was the wet photography which as highly troublesome. He knew what was on the way, what the future had to hold.

          Though Nathaniel Hawthorne was almost experiencing addiction withdrawals from his open faced fireplace, which was almost like sunlight to him was taken away from him. He seems to feel that it is injustice to take this piece of the sun and entrap it into this iron box. I take this as a metaphor for people going so far, and now regret will sweep through, people will wish for the past, wish for the nature and beauty and freedom.

          Almost unfortunately I believe he is wrong. I don’t think people look back and think to themselves, I miss only having a home phone that was only on a cord that had to be connected to a wall. Where this comes into play with the internet is we don’t write letters anymore. Are interpersonal relationships are severely damaged by the use of the internet in communication. There are hotlines to call and e-mails to send to companies even now! But honestly, this has made our lives easier, education easier, and even provides more opportunity for success!

           The idea of the “memex”, has become the internet, and thus has born a machine in which everything is stored in small compact ways, though Bush envisioned a desk, the desk top came close enough and the lap top came close enough to the desktop, and that uses ways and modes of storing in a hard drive, and communicating. Overall this has helped almost everyone in the world, in one way or another, even if they are aware of it or not.

           Whether someone’s life was just meant for YouTube, or now someone who is OCD about their stocks can check them on their phone in a meeting and not get fired for running to Wall Street in the middle of such meeting. It has helped everyone in some way, even the children with nothing in poor countries that have never seen a computer, get donations through one.
All of us in the world have benefited from the scientific information being shared through the internet, mainly due to the military of course. Now we have knowledge of new and life saving medications, that may have not been possible to come by if not for the internet. The point is simple my experience with the internet in the beginning till now seems to be a mirror or Bush’s thoughts, and his dreams. He dreamt of a machine that would change the world for good and not for bad, and here it is began twenty years after this article was written, and we are still following his prophecies even sixty-five years later.

Works Cited

Bush, By Vannevar. "As We May Think - Magazine - The Atlantic." Breaking News, Analysis and Opinion on Politics, Business, Culture, International, Science, Technology, National, Food — The Atlantic. Web. 07 Sept. 2010. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/as-we-may-think/3881/4/.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Fire-Worship, from Mosses from an Old Manse, 1854." Eldritch Press. Web. 07 Sept. 2010. http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/fw.html.