Computers, the Internet, and a Changing World

Computers, the Internet, and a Changing World

When I think about the world of writing in the year

2003, and compare it to writing, let’s

say, in the year 1990, the changes that have evolved

are phenomenal. Of course, a person could

argue that change is the one constant in life,

including people, ideas, and technology, just to name a

few. How can you measure and analyze every change

that’s occurred in the world, and its cultures?

If you tried, you’d likely grow old and die before you

could pinpoint every single one. But when it

comes to writing and the writers, themselves, in the

twenty-first century, no longer are the paper

pages of books, magazines, and newspapers the only

source of reading. The internet is a dazzling and

complicated electronic world, where one human can

instantly communicate with another, all with the

click of a mouse. Cyberculture has taken us from an

earlier world, where we used the pen, pencil,

typewriter, and just a computer, to a rapid-fire

electronic galaxy, that enables us to use millions of

pixels to send messages to the world; the most amazing

part of all, is that we can do all this without

ever leaving the comfort of our homes.

Let’s start at the beginning, before the information

superhighway was a part of the

global vernacular. Millions of people like to read

the newspaper, for a variety of reasons; many,

including myself, want to keep up to speed on current

events, locally, and around the world. I tend to

read The Detroit Free Press, The Ann Arbor News, and

occasionally, The New York Times, all good

and, for the most part, accurate sources of news. My

parents subscribed to all three newspapers for

many years, and still do to this day. After I moved

out and began living on my own, I would go to the

nearest store or newspaper stand to buy a copy, and at

times, still do this. However, with the

explosion of internet usage, I don’t have to run out

to the store and spend thirty-five or fifty cents on

one of those papers; rather, all I have to do is turn

on my computer, get connected to the internet,

type in the URL, and I am instantly at that

newspaper’s site, with that day’s electronic headlines

only a few inches from my face. I can read the front page

news, or click a link that takes me to the sports

section, or hit another link that takes me to the

movie reviews.

There are countless texts, long and short, to read on

the internet, and newspapers are

only one example. However, I believe that these