Not so long ago, the world was a different place. Saddam Hussein was still in charge of Iraq, no-one knew who the Liberal Democrats were and Call of Duty was but a twinkle in a young Bobby Kotick’s eye. Sounds like delightful times, doesn’t it?
Well, the other thing about these glory days is the fact that we didn’t have the Internet. And these days it’s easy to take that fact for granted, given that most of the things we do throughout the course of every single day involve the Internet somehow, from the smallest little things to huge, life-changing events.
It wasn’t always that way, and oddly enough it’s a piece of educational software that really drives the difference home. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was a game that tested your geographical knowledge and encouraged you to find out about the wider world. And you had to do it without the aid of Wikipedia, a website which means you can rattle through the Facebook version in a matter of minutes. Sure, it was often necessary to use reference material to pass the game’s missions, but there’s something a little different about using an encyclopaedia or atlas to find things out rather than typing things into Google.
For me, though, there’s no going back to those dark days. I think about all the people I have in my life right now, and I bet over half of them are in my life because of the Internet, whether it’s directly or indirectly. Some people I initially met face to face and then ended up getting to know via email or IM chat sessions. Some people I met online first and then met face to face later. Some people I’ve only ever met online, but want to meet face to face. And a few people I know online and am more than happy to keep them at a very long arm’s length!
It’s difficult to imagine how the events of the last year would have gone without the Internet. For starters, the situation wouldn’t have arisen in the first place, for many reasons. But let’s assume it had for a minute; the people from whom I had the most support were people I knew because of the Internet. A couple of them happened to be physically close to me, but a lot of them were on the other side of the planet. How different would it have been without them?
Perhaps if there was no Internet then I’d have more friends who are physically close to me. But then would that lead to a “compromise” sort of situation, where you hang out with people you don’t really like because it’s convenient?
Who knows? All I know is that I’m pretty damn grateful the Internet exists, and I’m equally grateful that the people I know because of it exist. You rock, so keep being awesome, and on that day when I win a bajillion pounds on the Inordinately Generous Lottery for People Called Pete (which doesn’t seem to have started yet, sadly) I will be travelling around the world to meet each and every one of you, buy you a drink and/or call you “dick-tits” to your face.
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