It seems like The Tallassee Tribune office has been without internet service for the better part of a week. That really got me thinking about the days before the internet.
We depended on the post office to deliver mail and sometimes it could take days to receive a letter from the next town over.
Today, we are so adapted to email we have become dependent on it. The almost instant delivery system is a go-to for so many.
It’s not the only email. Without the internet, there is no phone, no capability to conduct research, no instant messages, no Twitter or Snapchat. The list goes on and on.
And, at my house, when there is no internet, there is no television. I would not even know if I should dress for warm or cold weather because my Google smart speaker delivers the daily weather forecast first thing each morning. Without the internet, I probably would not sleep as well. At night, my Google assistant plays soothing sounds of waves rolling in on a beach. I sleep like a baby.
Google itself has become a staple. Did you know Google is an acronym for Global Organization of Oriented Group Language of Earth, and it’s both a noun and a verb?
I am part of the last generation who did not grow up with internet access or a screen in my face. I was in the eighth grade when the first dial-up modem was installed in our school’s library. It made an awful noise and transferred data at a snail’s pace, but it was groundbreaking and evolved into a tool that the world has become dependent upon.
Dialup modems used telephone lines to transfer data, but today faster and more reliable broadband internet access is available in most places. However, in remote rural areas of the world, dialup modems are still in use today. Hard to believe, huh?
The internet, technology, is everywhere. It amazes me to see young children, toddlers even, use a cell phone or tablet with such ease, as though the skills to do so were built-in.
One thing is certain, it’s usually pretty quiet around The Tribune office, but without the internet, it seems a little too quiet.