"In an Internet World": Reflection on the readings

I will start my blog by sharing a personal experience that helped me connect the readings with the way the internet directly affects me as an individual. This weekend my iphone became terribly damaged. Within the first few minutes I became extremely nervous and frightened about not having any communication with the world. Numbers became lost and I was unable to access my email. Without my iphone, which I am accustomed to check every few minutes, I felt lost and incomplete. Although the iphone is just a phone and does not have any human qualities I felt terribly distressed.  I am sure many of us feel this way about our phones and our laptops. I knew there was an immediate remedy for my problem. THE INTERNET! I immediately searched through a massive amount of websites to try and replace my damaged phone. I searched through sites such as Ebay, AT&T, Amazon and etc.

With this experience, taking place as I was reading the articles, the statement that stood out to me stated that, "if you do not care about networks, the networks would care about you." I also noted the line in which Logic states that the internet is less a creation dictated by economics than it is a miracle and gift." These two lines in the, "After the Dotcom Crash" stood out to me. I realized the connection between my massive searches for a new phone on the internet to the points the article was addressing. The internet itself is full of advertisements that persuade you to buy products online. Even before going on the EBay website in search of a new phone I saw ad's that promoted the website. A major concern is this concept to make money and become a wealthy business. Although the internet has great resources that can benefit us, companies see it as a source to gain money and make a profit. Hence, the idea of making the internet for profit caused a huge crash due to people's constant need to become consumers other then absorb the important information the internet can provide.

Although, we learn about a negative aspect of the internet, the different articles give us a myriad of ideas that help us understand what the internet can develop to be. We witness how far the internet has come along. In the article, "History of the Internet and Flexible Future", Leonard Klein rock, talks about how the internet affects our behavior and the way we live our life. I completely agree with Klein rock’s idea due to my own experience. My phone being a huge part of my life and losing it shows a change in behavior due to the fact that because I no longer had my phone I felt different and out of the loop. However, there was a very important point that Kleinrock made sure the reader knew. He stated that, “we shape the future of the internet." The more we become a part of this "Internet Cyber World" the more accessible the internet will become. By describing the history of wireless connection and the five phases to which he believes the internet will evolve really helped me imagine a more internet based future. Each day the internet draws more people into this kind of "Internet realm."

In the article "The Past and Future History of the Internet" written by Barry Leiner, we witness a similarity with Kleinrock's point on the future of the internet. Thanks to the internet people are able to stay connected and have easier forms of communication. Kleinrock and Leiner focus on the positive aspects of the development of the internet and its changes since its invention. Leiner informs us that, "the Internet represents one of the most successful examples of sustained investment and commitment to research and development in information
infrastructure." I agree with Leiner because the internet has been really successful and perhaps one of the best inventions of all times. Today, young children are even using the internet as a resource.

I must admit that it is a bit overwhelming how fast the internet has developed and how essential it has become in our society. However, reading these articles and connecting it to my own experience with a Smartphone I was able to further connect with the readings. Instant messenger and Facebook on my phone have allowed me to connect to family members even outside of the United States. Instead of having to wait to get to a laptop to respond to a message in a matter of minutes and sometimes even seconds I could have received the message and replied. Losing my phone is not a huge tragedy. However, my experience allowed me to further understand the immense dependency of the internet which the articles emphasize. I was able to gain knowledge about the history of this "internet world" many of us our now a part of and the many ideas of how the internet can continue to develop.