"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction force."
We've been challenged to share our thoughts on Things We Have Lost To the Internet by Gary Frimann, CRS, GRI, SRES.
Here are a few of the things I've lost:
Chains of restraint:
The biggest thing I have lost to the internet are the shackles that bound me to my home or office. In the pre-internet days, when waiting for a phone call or documents to be delivered, I was stuck at home or in the office. I can go anywhere anytime and know I can send or receive whatever and whenever.
Mental rest:
The internet has created an addiction to constantly being connected. We have so much information coming at us from every direction it's hard to take time for mental rest. When we do have a spare moment, we feel compelled to pick up our smartphone to see what we've missed since we last looked. We are expected to constantly be connected and that can be exhausting.
Respect for grammar and punctuation:
I am far from perfect but I try to respect grammar and punctuation. It seems to be a dying skill with abbreviations, acronyms, lack of periods, and other punctuation. It's hard to read messages when a paragraph is one long sentence. I hate that it's becoming acceptable to disrespect grammar and punctuation.
Apprehension of Traveling Solo:
I would have had a much more difficult time navigating my way around the U.S. on my recent road trip without GPS and the internet. You can't drive AND read a map at the same time unless you have GPS. I also would have had a much more difficult time finding safe places to stay without the internet. It aided me in locating hotels with good reviews when I didn't have a host family to stay with. One of my favorite bonuses of GPS is you can see a visual of the road in inclement weather.
I remember one trip when traveling over the Blue Mountains in Oregon. The fog was so bad I could hardly see the end of my hood let alone the road. When you get in a situation like that you can't just stop or you could get rear-ended. You HAVE to keep going. I turned on my flashers and followed the visual of the roadway on my GPS screen.
Running to the 1-hour photo:
Remember in the pre-internet days when we were constantly going to the 1-hour photo mat to get pictures for our listings developed? No more. We can order them online and have them delivered to us... or we can just print them out ourselves.
My Encyclopedias:
When I was a kid we had a set of Golden Book encyclopedias but there were a few volumes missing. I always wanted a full set of encyclopedias and when I could afford a set I bought a fancy new set. It was funny because when I told the encyclopedia sales guy that I wanted to buy a set he said I'd need to set up an appointment with the 3 of us... him, my husband and me! I said "H*LL NO, I am buying them now, but if you don't want to sell them to me just say so". He sold them to me. I'm sure it was his easiest sale ever. Somewhere along the line, among our post-internet moves those encyclopedias got donated. I love being able to carry them around in my hands.
I could go on but I won't. The internet has been amazing in so many ways. However, like Newton's Third Law, for every benefit, there are also some negative effects. I'll focus on the good.
Things I've Lost To the Internet: Action & Reaction
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