The [New-Fangled] Internet

I suppose that it is the pretentious geek in me that chooses to side with Bush and, with much more definition, the rebellious youth in me that chooses to laugh and roll my eyes at what Hawthorne says. The Internet is nothing new nor is it anything unique, in terms of its role as a budding means of communication. However, it may have become widespread faster than any of its predecessors who have taken this role in history, but this could easily be attributed to the aid of existing technology enabling its immediate dispersion across the planet. The Internet itself as an entity could be classified as a tool to satisfy a need when looked at biologically. Not necessarily a need for survival, such as food or water, but as an example that helps reiterate the basic definition of what makes us human. For example, human beings as creatures are social animals. That being said, we require constant attention from others, positive or negative, and find ways of obtaining that attention easier and more efficiently. The Internet is simply a tool, like a fork is used to eat or a glass is used to drink water out of, that enables us more efficiently than before to interact with as many people as we can, often times with complete strangers. It satisfies our desire to be heard while at the same time offers the rare luxury of absolute anonymity. It also offers immediacy for these desires, which is more of a luxury and a preference than a need.

Of the two authors, Bush's views on the subject more closely resemble my own, minus a few differences. However, more so than agreeing with what Bush's views are, I feel more drawn in by the disagreements I take upon the views expressed by Hawthorne. Hawthorne actually makes my explanation easier for me by providing in his own words a perfect example of how he and other human beings are ruining human progression with their own fear of technology. Human beings in general fear the unknown. It's suspicious and untrustworthy, and like the wood stove, the Internet is a relatively unknown entity accessed and used upon another arguably cryptic example of modern machinery, the computer. Because the Internet is operated with a computer, those that find it to be socially irresponsible and decaying are vindicated in their beliefs should they also be unable to efficiently operate a home computer. Regardless, as said before the Internet is merely playing the role of a "bringer of change" that is replacing one method of social interaction with another (not entirely or altogether, but simply replacing it in its role as "chief usurper"). Like television before it and radio before that, the Internet has become a tool of communication that has developed a curmudgeonly vocal group of naysayers because it infringes upon the traditional definition of the "socialite." To say a sentence such as "the Internet is a threat to social and domestic life" creates a virtual "adlib" where the bolded word can be replaced with a number of things and still remain true, such as the aforementioned television and radio and including CD players, comics, and even books, which once upon a time were the "televisions" of their day and spending all of one's time with their nose buried in a book might promote anti-socialism.

It is through this that we see a possible pattern developing. In exchange for added efficiency within a means of communication, a tradeoff is made where personalization and face-to-face interaction is sacrificed. It's an old story that has been told countless times for plenty of other things, such as the local restaurant that knows everyone's name who comes in but becomes faceless and impersonal once it becomes a franchise to increase business. The Internet is able to allow millions of people at a time to fundamentally interact with one another all over the world but sacrifices physical interaction. Hawthorne is complaining about his stove when countless other "stoves" have come along and completely changed the way we do things before he ever picked up a pen. It is highly unlikely that the death of physical interaction and face-to-face contact will ever be completely or entirely replaced. As determined as we are to find better and more efficient ways of doing anything, we are still at our most basic level social animals that require interaction. Physical interaction, which is in essence the oldest and most primitive of our abilities, can still prove itself as the most potentially gratifying means of interacting there is.

This blog of mine is nothing more than a tool I'm using to fill a niche, which is my need to be heard, be noticed, and be addressed. I am a human and therefore a social creature, and this blog sends a message to everyone that reads it that I care what they know and think about me. There is nothing written in this blog that could not be just as easily conveyed to someone with face-to-face interaction, however doing it this way allows me to say it all at once to a virtually infinite audience. I am willing to make that sacrifice.

The History of the Intarwebs

Hey everyone, Michael here. I suppose I should start from the beginning, as that is the assignment. My earliest experience with a "computer" that I can remember was before I was 5 years old, I was keen on playing my brother's new Nintendo Entertainment System. He would let me play Super Mario Brothers with him and would let me win sometimes, since he was six years older than me


Later, in 1st grade, I'd come face to face with an actual personal computer. These IBMs were basic and crude, and aside from a word processor program that we used to practice our skills at typing (which was actually what they were intended to be used for) they possessed classic "educational" games such as Math Munchers, Word Munchers, and the legendary Oregon Trail.




Some time after that, after numerous experiences and ownership of various video game consoles, my family bought our first home computer. It was 1995 and was an old, black-and-white Macintosh. It had a word processor and a rudimentary puzzle game, and that was good enough for me, at first. My history of computer ownership would progress with steadily increasing technology within our household. As of now, I own my own computer that I bought myself. The computer is a custom job, meaning it wasn't purchased through a single manufacturer (such as Dell or HP), but was rather bought by-the-part and assembled by a friend of mine who knows what he's doing. This allowed me to get a relatively state-of-the-art computer for half the price. For anyone interested in something like this, let me recommend the good folks at newegg.com.

Before all this, however, I would eventually discover the joys of the Internet, or the World Wide Web as it was called back then. Nowadays I can find anything on the relatively speaking back then things were harder, but it didn't feel that way. I was probably 13 when I discovered the Internet and it's bounty of images and web sites. For the most part my Internet browsing was reserved to school websites, as that was the only thing I knew of. I remember the first time I ever logged onto the internet. I was reading one of my Nintendo Power Magazines, when I had finished it and had glanced at the back cover. There sat an image of a street sign implanted on a globe that had the writing "HTTP://WWW.NINTENDO.COM." I had seen website URLs before, but they always seemed like jibberish to me. When i found out that there were videogames on the internet apparently, I rushed onto our Compaq and attempted to log on. We had AOL then, as we didn't know any better, and discovered the horrible sounds of the trademark "logging-in noise" associated with dial-up services. I believe I was scared the first time I heard this, thinking I had broken something.

I suppose I didn't become truly fascinated with the gaming prowess of a computer until middle school. I had always appreciated games on a home console that hooked up to a TV, but those games used easy-to-operate controllers that fit into your hand, not keyboards with dozens of keys scattered about them. Sure Oregon Trail was fun, but I had moved on to the Super Nintendo, and rudimentary games such as that with low graphics simply couldn't hold my interests. This changed the first day I went across the street to my friend Paul's house and he showed me a number of games by Lucas Arts and Origin. One in particular, enthralled me to no end. Wing Commander was the nicest looking anything I had seen in a while. On top of that, it featured real actors to play the characters during the dramatic, cinematic parts of the game, including the man who played Biff in the Back to the Future movies (my favorite movie series at the time), as well as Mark Hamill himself, who for those who don't recognize the name, starred as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies. In fact, he was the main character.

Gradually I would be introduced into the other, more mainstream features of the Internet. I had set up my first email account at age 15 with Hotmail (of which I checked every 5 minutes), and had discovered chatrooms. The first chatroom I entered was the Nintendo.com chatroom. Later I would discover the program mIRC, which was an integration of a number of chatrooms combined in one relatively difficult-to-use interface that many still use today. Today, I still use the Internet and the computer to play games on, some I enjoy so much I'm willing to pay monthly charges the game requires to be played.