By 8-BIT JAY
Special to the Parade
As I sit here at my new apartment waiting for Time Warner to transfer my service, I realize just how much I truly rely on the internet. As someone who works from home, and spends most of his waking hours writing about technology and videogames, it’s nearly impossible to maintain a steady income if I don’t have a reliable internet connection.
That got me thinking about just how much we’ve all come to rely on the internet. Whether it’s to check our Facebook status or our email, or we need to do research for a homework assignment, we totally rely on the internet for our everyday activities. This isn’t changing anytime soon. In fact, it seems that having a steady, high-speed internet connection will only become more necessary. We are reaching an age in which much of our movie viewing happens on services like Hulu and Netflix, our music is downloaded from iTunes and we can’t enjoy a game of Call of Duty without connecting to XBox LIVE or the PlayStation Network. Many of us choose Facebook over a phone call. Heck, even this column will be sent to Parade editor Michael Rodriguez via email.
As we become more accustomed to jumping online for these simple tasks, we will find ourselves using traditional types of media less and less. As I wrote last week, I don’t need a standard cable subscription. I just use the internet to watch my movies. Many of my friends do the same. We buy books on our Kindle and movies for our iPad. Music reaches our ears through the headphones of our iPods, and we communicate with our office coworkers through email, even when in the same building. Perhaps you are even reading this column in the online edition of the Parade.
How much do you rely on your internet connection? Do you check the New York Times front page? The Drudge Report? Do you check sports scores on your favorite website? Occasionally, I’d like to challenge myself to avoid the internet for a whole week. I just don’t know if it’s all that possible anymore.
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