I have been (un)fortunate to have had access to the internet in the early 90’s through Compuserve when it was only text based and there were about 5 interesting web sites to visit.
I experimented with some radical services for the day. The Imagination Network was based on gaming at the time but had a graphical user interface that users would navigate with. Click on the bar to go to the chat rooms. Click on another object to go to the gaming area. The novelty wore off as its specialized gaming nature got old without the content of the rest of the internet readily available.
Next came my experience with the providers Prodigy and America Online (AOL). They both provided portals to the internet and the fantastic resources beyond. America Online eventually won my favor because it provided a good portal, interested array of unique features (Air Warrior!), and a nice browser. America Online soon became extremely popular and it became overloaded as more customers began logging on.
Cable made dial-up internet obsolete. The speeds they offered was fantastic. The quickness of the internet allowed me to have better access to information by reducing the load times to a fraction of dial-up. Even better, the internet was becoming better organized and searchable through the advances of Yahoo and later Google. The AOL portal was no longer necessary. Improved search algorithms brought the relevant items to you faster. The rapid expansion of internet sites also reduced the efficacy of Yahoo’s categorical listing for finding interesting sites.
Today, I still use cable. It is somewhat faster than the service I had when it first started but even that speed was sufficient for modern content—with the exception of streaming HD video. Google is now my start page due to its simplicity in design. Compare its page with the garish and overloaded pages of other providers.
The internet refuses to stand still. It continues to evolve. Right now, they have termed it Web 2.0. The web is far more interactive than it was when it first came out. Consumer generated content fattens the internet and companies are still trying to figure out how to reliably use it for marketing. Social networking rules the roost and Twitter is coming into its own.
I imagine that the internet in 10 years will look remarkably different from how it looks now. It is developing as I continue my trek through life. I know that this may sound weird, but it is like a childhood companion for me. It is something that I can say I grew up with and watched it develop. What did I ever do without it? I will definitely say that it has positively influenced my development throughout the years, bringing the world to my fingertips and opening my mind.
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