my first time

Natalie Cates

September 12, 2010

Internet Studies

First Web Writing Assignment

My First Time

            It was the late 90’s when I encountered this strange new contraption called the Internet.  I had seen and used computers before, but they had always been “expensive equipment, not children’s toys.”  I can remember the days of using the art program and playing solitaire, but when I came home from school and my dad showed me the new use for the computer called AOL, I was mesmerized. 

            The first thing my dad did for me was set up m very own e-mail account; I was so excited to have three e-mail buddies, they were all my family members.  I had my very “Kidz only” setting with my account that was specifically designed to have games to play and homework help.  I could go to different websites and some of my more frequent ones included Barbie.com and the beanie baby website.  My favorite part was designing my very own Barbie doll that I could put in a fashion show and pick the outfits she could wear.   Also in my early Internet days I was a fan AIM (AOL instant messenger).  It was all the rage in my 5^th grade class.  I remember being at my friend Morgan’s house and we stayed up all night talking to boys online, it was so cool.  Don’t get me wrong; I had some educational experience with the Internet too.   When I was in elementary school we had computer class.  I don’t remember much about it, I do know we used Mac computers at my school, but they were not sleek like they are now.  When I was first experiencing computers, they were bigger and boxier, while I am aware in the 90’s computers had become a lot smaller, they were still large to me.  My science teacher was also my computer teacher, and she taught how to open the browser, Navigator, and then showed us different scientific websites, and other educational tools for kids. 

            By the time 8^th grade came around I thought I was a pro! I had my very own computer that my grandpa gave me.  I was able to use the Internet to look up information, download music, chat with friends, send e-mails to my family; but I was nowhere near any real level of accomplishment.  It was when I was in high school that my research skills were really becoming fine-tuned.  It was in high school that I had to learn to write a paper with proper online sources that were credible.  I had to learn to site a website correctly, and learn to dig past what Google or another search engine came up with.  Google was another invention that was in my lifetime and has now become a part of my everyday life.  Also when I was in high school I discovered Facebook, another tool that I use in my everyday life.  I found it to be a way to stay in touch with people and communicate.  Now that I am in college I still use all of these features of the Internet, but I know utilize a few more on a daily basis; for example I use my e-mail, Ning (academic social network), Blogging, and that is just a few. 

            I think that after remembering about all the uses I have gotten out of the Internet, I would have to agree with Bush.  When I first encountered the Internet it seemed so big so vast, I wondered what all I could do with it.  To admit I thought the uses didn’t go much past e-mail and Barbie.com, but in my defense I was a 9 or 10 year old girl.  Now that I know at least some of what the Internet has to offer, and I have a better understanding of how to use it, I think it is a wonderful tool.  The Internet, as we know it today, is a gadget that people 25 years ago never would have imagined.  I think that there are many undiscovered uses for the Internet, but we have “enormously extended the record; yet even at its present bulk we can hardly consult it.”  The Internet is not perfect and computers themselves can be headache, but even though it is not perfect yet I can’t think about what my life would be like without the Internet. 

            Hawthorne was not happy about the loss a certain communication that the fireplace brought to the household. His opinion of the wood-burning stove was a negative one partially because it was ugly and foreign, and because it was a new technology that allowed for a more separated life style.  Even though I understand where he is coming from thinking about the lost art of conversation, I would take a more efficient method of doing something, weather it is keeping warm or writing a paper, over a less efficient method anytime of the day, any day of the week, any week of the year.