We hear a lot about the bad things people are doing using internet technology. Identity theft, internet porn, harassment, and phishing are only a few types of internet crimes that are reported on a daily basis. But while access to the World Wide Web may have opened new doors for criminals, few would argue with the assertion that it is also having a positive impact on the world that we live in. The ability to share information has empowered individuals and groups as never before, particularly in areas such as communication, commerce, and healthcare.
When I was ill some years back, I read about a new drug on the internet that was being studied at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. It was being compounded at a small pharmacy near the hospital and the more I learned about it the more I thought it might help me. I eventually spoke to the pharmacist in Maryland, convinced my doctor to write me a prescription, and after one month of therapy my health improved enormously. That medication is now FDA approved and is widely available.
I have also found great sources for gluten-free food on the Web, learned new photography techniques, researched products and prices before making purchases, discovered wonderful authors, artists, and musicians, had fun with Web gadgets like flickr leech (I used it to make the illustration above, click on the photo to see it larger) and I’ve met a bunch of really nice fellow bloggers from all over the world. Some believe that the internet will bring about the biggest change in human social structure in history. So the question of the day is: How has the internet impacted, enhanced, or changed your life?
bookbabie 
It’s really changed it loads, now I come to think about it. It’s amazing to be able to connect to so many amazing artists and creative folk not to mention all the other general practical stuff you mentioned.
It’s fab!
Caroline
X
The internet sure makes book research a lot faster and easier so it definitely changes the way I write.
i love your post, again! Again! 🙂
thanks for the leech its awesome.
i’m clearly enriched by the internet, and feel i am thinking about it, writing about it, too. about what is this space i have and what do i want to do with it–still not sure why i experiment this way. but of course, its like a cake, you have to try a slice to know if you like it. I like it. thank you.
I think the trouble is the world now is changing so quickly that we can’t even grasp how or what is changing. It’s not really surprising that people get alarmist about computer crimes, because we’re unequipped to deal with them. Conversely, judges and the legal system are completely unprepared to handle the crimes and determine what is or is not a crime. In a recent survey some large percent of judges couldn’t tell the difference between an email and a webpage (a window’s a window, right?). The current generation is used to things changing at lightening pace, and I’m young enough to have grown into that pace (I’m 26) but I’m always stunned to realize how difficult it is for say my parent’s generation… my dad’s been active with email, to websites, to digital photography since I was a teen, but a week ago I realized he didn’t know how to copy and paste.
It’s so funny. When I was a kid I never could have pictured something like the internet. It’s really mind-blowing when you stop to consider it. But now I can’t picture life without it (or at least something similar). I’m always using it to find recipes, pictures, word definitions, and who knows what else. I buy most of my non-perishables online. I pay bills online. I network, and have gotten back in touch with friends I hadn’t talked to since high school. Every advance has downsides, and while some people are doing icky things with the internet, the introduction of such technology is not the introduction of evil; it’s just another way for bad people to, um, practice their badness. Or something.
The internet has made everything from keeping up with family to finding a good recipe easier. But what fascinates me is how much I can find on anything I’m interested in looking up. I do genealogy and I have found stories about ancestors that I would never have had time to access if it wasn’t for the wonderful websites there are.
Thank you Al Gore (er…whomever)
Like everything else, good or bad is determined by who is using it and for what purpose. Used responsibly it is a wonderful communication medium. I enjoy my interaction with people all over the world.
Being able to dip into peoples blogs, interesting people like yourself, and see what others are doing and thinking all over the world and sharing my own tuppence worth every now and then has enriched my life and inspired my art.
My favorite uses for the internet would have to be 1-getting photos of my grandbabies far away in England 2-visiting my blog friends in my blog neighborhood, and 3-recipes for that last minute meal i can’t think of anything to make with the ingredients in my fridge!