An Ode To Broadband

The internet....what would we do without it? Well, we wouldn’t be blogging for one thing. There’d be no email, no online shopping or gaming or dating or banking....no social networking (Face who? Twit whatever!). Patience would become a necessity, not a virtue, in a world where information was no longer available at a key stroke or mouse click and we’d be flexing our muscles to lift all those huge books through which we’d now need to trawl just to find out a fact that was probably out of date before it went into print.

I’m the first to admit I would have a quite miserable time if I was to be disconnected, permanently. My job would be very different or nonexistent...and I’d certainly have to get in my car and drive into the office every day, not just dial up into my work server.

My reliance on the internet came on gradually...a bit like those extra pounds that have crept onto my middle. It all started at university with email, then surfing the web and sourcing information from online journals...moved to internet shopping, and now, it’s my first port of call for banking, booking holidays, finding a restaurant, even booking a medical appointment. I am constantly amazed by just what can be arranged over the internet....

Like getting a flat tyre changed today...no need to stress, huff and puff changing to the spare one then driving about, trying to find a garage. Just a quick search to find a tyre supplier/fitter, tap in the details....and pretty soon Tyre Man was on my doorstep, ready to replace the punctured one and balance the wheels. Done before you can say Google 100 times....OK, maybe if you said it really fast, but then you may be mistaken for a turkey, possibly not a good idea if you’re anywhere near the U S of A today.

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK, but I sure am thankful for the internet...today and every day.