Cruising

It has been more than twenty years, since Al Gore coined the term “information superhighway”. Although I understood the basic concept, I had no idea how large a role the internet would play in my life.

An early version of Internet Explorer was installed on my workplace computer, but it was more of a learning novelty for the programmers. My employer, like most others, didn’t have a website and HTML code was still in my future. 

Slowly, I found some use for this new toy. I opened my first Yahoo mail account, which I have kept for eighteen years. Before long, I acquired a dedicated phone line for my home and learned the delights of online shopping. I even tried some chat rooms, although that was short lived. 

Later, website development was added to my programming responsibilities and I created my own personal website. More time would pass before my introduction to social media. What was all the twitter about? And let’s not forget the blogging world.

Nowadays, freed from wires and plug-in modems, I can sit in my recliner and instruct my laptop to find lasagna recipes, window replacements, Virginia Beach vacations or the lyrics to an old song. Not all is lovely, of course. I must deal with spam, phishing and pop-ups. It’s a small price to pay for climbing in my virtual machine and cruising down the highway.