The Internet Is Cool

Yeah, well, there's a controversial headline that's gonna get me lots of hate mail.

Hear me out, though.  The other day I bought (on the internet) tickets to hear Simon & Garfunkel -- a concert I would never have even known about were it not for (wait for it) the internet.

Every now and then, when something nifty (like concert tickets) comes my way courtesy of Mr. Internet, I get all misty thinking about all the really amazing things that have come into my life thanks to the innovation.  Lots of friends I wouldn't have made.  Lots of trips I wouldn't have taken.  Lots of shows I wouldn't have seen.  (Lots of discounts I wouldn't have known about.)  Lots of really cool material goods I wouldn't have purchased.  And so forth.  Makes me just want to give it a great big hug.  (I'd hug my computer in lieu of hugging the 'net, but the cat might get jealous.)

And then I get to wondering -- is there any other innovation in my lifetime that has changed my life so completely?  I mean, I remember one night -- less than a decade ago -- when I discovered I didn't have to waste my time on AOL message boards and could actually use this thing to browse the web.  (Back when you had to type in Keyword: WWW.)  And in one night -- well, nearly one all-nighter -- as I learned what was out there (and how quickly it was expanding), the internet immediately went to the top of my list as my first resource to research anything.

Has any other thing changed my life as much?  Probably not.  The only thing that comes close is the microwave -- but that didn't so much change my life as just make it easier to continue with my non-cooking lifestyle.  The internet actually changed everything.