I created the internet - wordsmithing

I think like some of my other classmates, I wasn't quite sure what to do with this. Do I just edit what DI has already written? I thought what was there was already pretty good. I don't really consider myself a master of the written or even spoken word most days. I don't seem to be able to find the right words sometimes. So, I waited, and then I forgot, and then someone else posted about it and I had to prompt myself to look at it again.

I got the impression that DI didn't want us to just edit what was there, but add to it, create more. I added a few things, in orange. There are s few other things that came to mind, but couldn't quite figure out how to make the words flow well together to keep the rhythm that seems to already be there. I would like to keep watching to see what might get added to see if I could make more additions.

I do remember buying my first computer, my first year for grad school 1995. I didn't get Internet right away. I had email at school and wasn't sure if I would ever need my own. Boy, was I wrong. The next year I signed up for mindpsring, which became earthnet. I kept them for years before going to free email. I remember being so excited to get home and check to see if I had emails. I also remember spending an entire evening staying up and emailing back and forth to my boyfriend at the time. I would send an email and then wait for his reply, hitting refresh every few minutes. I was so excited when instant messenger came about. At one time I was jealous of those on AOL because they had the little voice that said "You've Got Mail". I quickly got over that and actually try to avoid AOL.

It's hard to believe that I have witnessed the birth of the Internet. It seems that is has always been there. What did we do before it? Students now have more access to things for research and don't have to spend hours going through card catalogues and studying the dewy decimal system. You can do all of your Christmas shopping without every leaving your house. While you can make great contacts and connections, I do think that they are not the same as some of the ones you have in person with someone. I know people make the comments that the Internet is so impersonal, you don't learn social skills. True, there will always be those who take it to the extreme and keep human contact to a minimum, but I don't think it is the norm, at least not yet.