It’s amazing the way the internet has become a part of regular life in such a short amount of time. In the early 1990′s, the idea of connecting computers as a social communication medium was only starting to develop. Today, through the power of the internet, people are more connected than ever. Households are eliminating their home phones, placing voice calls, using text communication, and playing games online. A great indicator of how different things are today is the cost of entry to have internet access. Before, you needed to have and understand how to use an expensive computer and subscribe to a slow telephone access internet service, Now you can get full internet access from a $150 game console or $99 cell phone.
Think about any movie with a science fiction feel to it that was produced in the 20th century. This goes double for movies produced in the 80′s and earlier. The vision of the post-2000 future portrayed in those movies usually included things like clothing that resembled spacesuits, hoverboards, flying cars, servant robots and other technical unlikelihoods. Things like those are unlikely to develop in the real world for many years to come. Even so, the computer technology people were using in those films often looks dated by the standards of today.
What’s the big difference maker? The Internet. Through the Internet, the way people communicate, shop, and use their time has changed drastically. Now, people are more familiar with online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay than they are with the small store down the street. People in remote locations have access to products that otherwise might be hard to find. Mobile internet allows people to communicate in a multitude of ways from nearly anywhere, and they can be updated on things happening around the world just as quickly. Even with all these monumental changes, there are still many more to come.