Can you
imagine life without the internet?
Though it’s only been around in its present form for a few years, it has
enormous influence in almost every area of modern life. Most people, in the developed world at least,
would struggle to live without it.
Imagine
being lost in say in say San Francisco with only an iPod and a Wi-Fi connection. You need some where to stay. What do you do? Use the internet of course. Go to trip advisor and find the top ranked
budget hotel in town. Check in with an
email reservation. But wait. Your credit card is declined. No problem.
Go to online banking and transfer more money to your card. How are you going to find the hotel – Google
maps of course? But what bus should you
catch. Simply Google the bus routes and
time table.
You arrive
at the hotel but immediately encounter a problem. The desk clerk only speaks Mongolian. You whip out the iPod and go straight to Google
translate; problem solved!
Once you’re
settled in, you’re ready to relax for the evening. You Google
cinemas, theatres, restaurants and every other form of entertainment you can
think of. After reading the online
reviews, you decide on a restaurant. Going
through their online menu, you select a couple of mouth watering dishes. After paying online, you sit back and wait
for the meal to be delivered to your door.
After dinner
you decide on a movie. Something action
packed you think. You choose “The Terminator”. Netflix streams it to your device for a small
fee. It’s a movie about the destruction of humanity due to the rise of the
machines. The machines come to power
through “skynet”; an internet-like structure set in the future. For a moment you feel uncomfortable as you
wonder if the future is already here.
After the
movie, you feel like some exercise to work off the big meal. Of course you log on to a gaming website - HALO
reach. Racing around, shooting all
manner of monsters is great exercise and all in a nights work for a serious
gamer like yourself.
As you begin
to tire after a busy day, you feel a little homesick for your friends in
Feilding. You check out the Feilding
herald online to bring you up to date with what’s happening in town. You facetime your friends; it’s good to see
their faces and swap a few laughs. You
upload a selection of videos and photos of your recent adventures to your
online travel blog. Finally you check out your facebook page for the latest gossip
and goings on.
Yawning, you’re
ready for bed. But even now the
influence of the internet has not finished. You listen to the soothing music of
the latest AC/DC release that you downloaded from iTunes as you prepare for
bed. Finally, you set the alarm on your iPod
to wake you up at 2am the next morning.
The All Blacks are playing France and you plan to listen to it live via
the Radio NZ app on your iPod.
But then disaster
strikes. While brushing your teeth, you
accidently knock your iPod into the bath full of water. The screen goes blank, your mind goes blank. You are no longer connected to the modern world.
Could you
survive without the internet?
