How the internet has rapidly changed the way we live our lives
Less than 150 years ago, telephones and electricity were installed in only a handful of (normally wealthy) homes. Car ownership was in its infancy, again limited to the pleasures of the extremely wealthy.
Today, our entire lives are generated by the small rectangular object that we can carry in our back pockets. These devices contain more information than an entire room of data processing units used to contain in the 1950s, and we can instantly communicate with anyone the world over as if they were sitting in the same room. Car ownership is universal, and many households sometimes have two or three cars sitting in the drive.
The rate of historical change and scientific and technological advancement has progressed at an exhilarating speed over the last century. Consider that soldiers were forced to go to battle from muddy trenches and sent over the top to their certain death in the attempt to gain precious inches in the battle for territories. Today, the majority of those soldiers will be controlling drones from safe zones, as part of a finely tuned and predictable attack.
While pre 1900 most changes in history would have been described as ‘turning points’, the 20th century was so full of turning points that it is difficult to ascertain what were significant turning points, and what were merely markers of progress along the way.
The impact of the internet
The engineering prowess of Isambard Kingdom Brunel could be described as a turning point in the industrial revolution, spearheading economic and social transformation. In 1989, Tim Berners Lee sparked a similar turning point when he launched what we now understand as the world wide web. Although for some time electronic communication was a normal occurrence across global businesses, Berners Lee’s world wide web acted as a repository for information that anyone could access and retrieve information whenever they wanted.
Within a couple of years, Mosaic was developed as a sophisticated method of searching the web, which then became Netscape. Google was officially launched in 1998.
Today, the ability to list, advertise and search for absolutely anything you can think of has become so commonplace that ‘to google’ has become an accepted verb in the English language in the same was as ‘to hoover’. Prior to Google, if you wanted to source some obscure product, solid carbide router bits, for example, it would be a process of going through the Yellow Pages and calling local suppliers. Today, simply inputting the name of the product into a search bar can throw up suppliers from all over the world, who can take your order electronically and ship it to you almost immediately.
The Internet of Things
Today, The Internet of Things (TIOT) describes physical objects which communicate via sensors giving us connected functionality through what we now know as ‘smart’ technology. This technology has been adapted to improve processes across consumer, commercial, industrial and infrastructural spaces. For example, in the home a system can be set up which links all your electronic devices – the front door locks, the alarm, central heating, lighting etc – and can be controlled from your device. Security is continually being improved and enhanced, to improve the overall user experience and protect their identities in a world which is increasingly under attack by cyber hackers who have nefarious intentions.
There are still many lessons to be learnt, and the internet has also been a harbinger of much darkness when it comes to human activities. Somehow the speed of change can make us feel more vulnerable – no sooner do we feel comfortable with one change, when another comes along. The key for mankind now is to ensure safeguards are put in place to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.
