maupuia calling

So, Jo, who made us all feel really old at Webstock Mini doesn’t know what life without the internet is. I nearly got up and did an impromptu 2 min speech. It would have gone something like this.

I’m 45 in nearly two weeks.

I was 17 before I used a computer - a mainframe, my first year at University.

I was 25 before I used a PC for the first time. And then only for two days before I got fired from my job!

I was 29 before I owned a PC and used one on a regular basis.

I was 31 before I heard of the internet. Someone showed my a copy of Wired Magazine. I had no idea what the url address meant.

I was 32 before I saw a website. My friend was involved in building one. I couldn’t comprehend what an anchor was.

I was 33 before I sent my first email. 33!!

I was 34 before I built my first website.

I was 43 before I downloaded my first mp3. Having said that, I was not much older than 43 when I downloaded my 6,000th mp3.

I was 44 before I downloaded my first video from YouTube.

My son, Matthew, is 8. He goes to www.wwe.com each day and keeps up to date with the latest wrestling news. He knows all there is to know about wrestling. Although he’s wrong thinking Batista will beat the Undertaker in at Wrestlemania. The Undertaker is a phenom.

My son, Johsua, is 5. His browser of preference is Firefox over Internet Explorer. He can’t read, but can navigate, play games, find his way around.

What amazes me is not so much how the internet has changed my life, but how it won’t change theirs.

===================================

I need to shout-out, as they say, to Jo Eaton whom I met in person for the first time at Webstock Mini. I’ve only known her virtually for 7 or 8 years! She was of the very few New Zealand people who knew of my online journal back in the day.

And it was lovely to meet with Martha also. “Wanda Harland”, it seems, is her “porn name”. The name of your first pet, followed by the street you first lived in. Mine would be Henry Ironside. It has a certain ring.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 8:58 pm and is filed under webstock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.