My First Encounter With the Internet

By the time I was born in Jan of 1990, the internet had plenty of time to get up and running. Althought it was still a new idea by the time I was learning it, the concept of this “internet” well know. I must have been about five or six the first time I was introduced to a program on the internet. My grandfather was a bit of a computer nerd and had a pretty good job for the times at IMB. He used his “high tech” work desktop computer that was stored at the deepest darkest spot in the basement. My grandfather was always downstairs on that computer working on something for IMB. Because he was on his internet computer, he always seemed to be doing something very interesting. He would sit in stacks of papers, because he printed everything, light by a single lamp.

My cousins and I knew when we went over to grandma and granddads, that we had to be really good children, so we could maybe get a change to have granddad help us play a game or watch granddad on the internet. Being an eager child, it seemed like that desktop took two hours to boot up. The screen was small, and a cube shape, which connected to a larger box with thousands of “expensive” wires and flashing lights. When it started, it was like a spaceship was taking off. My grandfather would sit in his chair, and start pressing the series of buttons. To actually get onto the internet was an even bigger process. There were signals connecting, beeps and clicks from the buttons being mashed, and flashing lights that lit up the entire room. At that age I had no idea that we were just dialing up to connect to the wonderful world of the internet.


The first time I was actually allowed to “play” on granddads computer was after years of studying and watching his careful moves. My grandfather set up an educational game through a program on the internet that I was able to accesses at my home, the grandparents house, or to show off to my friends. I had my very own password (that my parents had to remember) that I was able to type in to log onto the site. This educational game had many different subjects that I could play through, and try to beat. While using the internet I felt like I was connected to a totally different world. It had a colorful cartoon characters that would jump around (very slowly) and engage me into my education. I had names for them all and felt like they had their own personalities.

The digital effects were less than impressive to today’s standards. I felt like I was doing something none of my friends would ever experience, endless I showed them this breathtaking secret. Now, I would compare it to a very badly drawn cartoon on scratched DVD that would often freeze or skip. Today in the rare event that the internet freezes because of your computer, you just turn it off. I can remember taking the time to get down to the problem and restart it the right way. My grandfather probably gave me a bit of a jumpstart to the internet for my age. He gave my family our first computer and gave my dad a used laptop, when I didn’t even know what a laptop was.

My early brush with the internet was more like the threat presented in Nathaniel Hawthrone’s “Fire-Worship” writing. I do feel that today’s technology is increasing the insidious threat to social and domestic life. Bush was on the right track with his memex, but my internet usage at the age of six was much more of what he was looking for. Hawthrowne’s writing implied that the internet seemed to pull families apart and uneducated people. In my experience, although I was being taught about the internet by my grandfather, it pulled the family apart much more then brought it together. I can remember being banned from the basement because granddad was doing important work.

Now, at thanksgiving dinner, my cousins and I are all playing on facebook from our phones. My sixteen year old brother can escape up the play room and use five electronic at once. He will not come down for hours because of he is skyping, chatting, and texting while playing on Xbox live. My parents hate the fact that they have to ban him from xbox when he gets bad grades on his report card, or tell him to stop texting when they are having “quality time”. Hawthrone’s article only touches on the problems that the internet causes, the problem is going bigger. The younger generation is expected to unlimited internet access, that technological capability that some people just cannot understand. I am an advertising major, and it there is pressure to understand the internet and technology. If you don’t fully understand the technology and capability of the internet you probably will be as successful as someone who does in my major.