Life, the Internet and everything

I was having a long chat last night with she who must be obeyed about the Internet. The conversation started with her saying 'I wouldn't miss TV if I didn't have one'. Which set the panic bells ringing in my head because I would. And I wasn't sure if I this was a loaded question and I was about to be set up. So I mumbled a bit and let the conversation continue. I said I enjoy TV (especially now I have a satelite system installed and have about 400 channels), but life would not end if I didn't have it. Turns out she was leading to seeing if we were going to go and stay in the mountains in Switzerland again this year. In a house with no TV and utter peace and quiet. (We probably will and I have no problem being away from TV for a while).

The conversation then turned somehow to the Net. I love technology and I think it totally enhances my life. Especially the Internet. And I would miss it a lot if I didn't have it. And if I think back to when I was at university (less than 10 years ago) the Net was crap. You could do stuff on it, but not that much. And we've made some amazing progress in 8 years - I wonder where it'll be in another 8 years. I can't really imagine what will be controllable online and what will be linked up, but you read about all this new stuff being developped and it sounds amazing. Almost like a science fiction film, but it seems a lot more possible today than even a couple of years ago.

But I digress. The conversation started me thinking about why I use the Internet and what I think about it. And this is kind of related to you guys I guess. I see it first of all as a great place to find stuff out, look stuff up and buy stuff conveniently. I can do all this when I want and how I want which is so good when your life is quite busy. I also think it is a tool that brings the world together really well (like now). If it wasn't for the Net I would never have met any of you lot. And I think my life would be the poorer for it. Even though we only know a little bit about each other and people can be whoever they want online. But so what?! Even if you only show one aspect of yourself does it really matter. (And I'm not suggesting any of you are not who you say you are by the way). But then I started thinking about the value of human contact in this context. I imagine it's unlikely that we'll ever meet in person, but does that mean our relationships are any the poorer for it? I don't think so. If I was in a bar talking to people would I be getting more from that conversation than I do from the comments? I guess the conversation and relationship would build quicker, but I don't think it would be any less meaningful. Like when I was away last week and you all left messages asking where I was. It gave me such a huge lift on Monday morning and I'm so grateful to you all for it.

And I think the Internet also allows me to feel like there's a bigger world out there. I've been lucky enough to travel a bit in my life and I love seeing new places and coming into contact with new people and experiences. And the Net allows you to surf around and get more of a global perspective on life. This opportunity was not really available a few years ago, but now that I have experienced it, it would be tough to give it up. I would feel quite closeted I think.

I think a lot of people don't like technology and say that it harms their quality of life. And mobile phones are often quoted as the worst of all evils (they can be I reckon, but that's another point). But I think it's because those people who complain don't really use things like the Net to improve their quality of life. If you haven't got the time or inclination to use it then don't. It won't make your life worse by not going near it. But if you take some time to set it up to help you then it can make life a lot easier. Having said that you can experiences life Misguided Fool, which are not good.

All of which doesn't really change the current status quo in the Stancombe household. But I wonder where we'll be in a years time.