It’s the Internet’s 30th Birthday and We Are Celebrating the Best Things It Has Given Us
On the 12th of March, 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal named “Information Management: A Proposal.” Little did he know that these brief pages would usher in a revolution of information, making the world connected than ever.
Today, there are about two billion websites online, and whether you are browsing the web, sending an email, doing homework, or watching a video of a cute puppy, chances are you cannot imagine your life without the web.
“There are very few innovations that have truly changed everything,” said Jeff Jaffe, CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium. “The Web is the most impactful innovation of our time.”
Here are the best things the internet has given us!
Back in the day, sending a letter to a person or an entity half the world away was done through traditional mailing services, which would have usually taken weeks, and in some instances, months. The invention of the e-mail has revolutionized communication. Nowadays, it is a ubiquitous part of our culture that we cannot imagine life without.
Never lose your documents
Online backup services such as Google Drive, Carbonite, and Moozy have made it impossible for you to ever lose a document, while applications such as Dropbox and Live Mesh solved the issue of having to share documents between computers that are not a part of the same network.
The internet has actively ended burning data on CDs and floppy disks.
Social Media
Whether you use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, the internet through social media has brought us all closer. Now, people can catch up with their childhood friend, overseas relatives, and people they care about anywhere in the world.
Social Media has also helped in raising awareness of many of the vital issues that are relevant to our modern society such as climate change and pollution. It has also brought many communities together sending a vibe of unity and acceptance between its users.
However, the most important perk is that sometimes when people gather over a good cause, they can really make a difference through the power of social media.
Free Software
On the internet, there is plenty of free software and programs for users to download or use; from Adobe Reader to Google Docs, people do not need to pay for software anymore. It has also been used as an ingenious marketing tool with young developers marketing for their products free online.
Shopping
Without a doubt, shopping has its perks; there is an inexplicable feeling of joy when friends go together from one shop to another looking for things to get. On the other hand, there is an equally unfathomable, yet comforting feeling when people press a button on Amazon and Jumia and just wait for their stuff to be shipped.
The internet has revolutionized shopping; nowadays, almost all things from trinkets to machines can be ordered online.
Online gaming
Whether you are a fan of open-worlds, combat, stealth, or real-time strategy, the internet has it for you. People from all over the world can now play together or against one another. Surprisingly, in recent years, tournaments for online games have been spreading like wildfire, and more people than ever are calling for it to be official.
Memes
Usually, in mimicry or for a humorous purpose, internet memes, an image, GIF, or a video, have helped make all our lives better, one way or another. For years, memes have been spreading through social media, blogs, emails, and news outlets with references to internet cultures or sub-cultures.
Give the public a voice
Prior to the internet, pinning down what the public really wanted was never an easy task. However, nowadays, with the rise of reviews and blogs, all opinions from left to right are there on the web. It has also become a power of change for the good with people coming together to support or condemn one thing.
Now, it is easier for people to communicate with their favorite celebrities or local lawmaker, giving their two cents on almost all things.
Made knowledge acquiring easier
With the invention of the Internet, curious individuals can just type their inquiry on a browser and everything that has ever been written about the topic, from research papers to Yahoo answers would be available to them. Back in the day, it was not that easy, people had to spend hours in libraries looking for a specific piece of information, or spend hours skimming through Encyclopedia Britannica, now we have Wikipedia.
