Net Theory: The Ultimate Convenience
The Internet is a lot of things; it takes all other forms of media and puts it into one place, or relatively one place considering the expanse of the Internet. On the Internet you can do everything you would do in everyday life, you can: research, shop, watch shows, watch movies, go to school, play games, communicate, work, manage finances, pay bills; or enjoy content exclusive to the Internet. The Internet embodies all forms of media and activities of everyday life, putting it all on your computer at home for your convenience. With the introduction of the modern Internet a person could live a plentiful life all without leaving their home and with no need for any other form of media, thus the Internet is the “Ultimate Convenience.” In a sense the introduction of the Internet has made people lazy beyond belief, people have taken advantage of having the power to get just about anything with the click of a mouse. A large portion of the Internet is dedicated to the sharing of information.
If you are lazy, like most Americans are, you probably don’t want to take the time to get into your car; drive to the library; and spend hours looking through their databases and library catalogs only to find a tiny piece of information. But thanks to the Internet all of that comes to your doorstep. Search engines such google.com, yahoo.com, and ask.com allow people to find those tiny bits of information quickly and comfortably as well as explore websites to link us to the other things the Internet has to offer. All you have to do is type a few keywords and instantly you are provided millions of possibilities. However, aside from the mass amounts of websites that offer questionable material there are ways of doing research on an academic level. Databases, such as ebscohost.com and gale.cengage.com offer more credible resources but at a price. That’s not to say that all websites found on Google are not credible, most education websites are very credible, Google even has a sub-site scholar.google.com, which allows you to search through credible websites. The idea of research on the Internet is taken further by encyclopedias online, such as wikipedia.org. Wikipedia is user authoring so the information can be useful but not always credible. Google can offer links to information; it can also take you to websites dedicated to consumers.
The Internet provides people with the opportunity to consume. From the comfort of your home you can order all the necessities of life from clothing, electronics, tools, household items, food, and even animals if the price is right. Name any department store, clothing store, or major grocery store and more likely than not you can buy any of their items online and have them shipped directly to your house; for example the Home Depot, Sears Department Stores, Abercrombie and Fitch, just to name a few. King Soopers and Safeway offer Internet shopping with delivery, however, if neither of those interests you and you are truly lazy, not wanting to prepare meals for yourself www.homebistro.com offers gourmet meals, readymade! Or for more immediate food experiences there isn’t even a need to use your phone and actually talk to a person, you can order your pizza from both Dominoes and Pizza Hut over the Internet. Then there is the infamous HSN, the Home Shopping Network, provides people with just about everything imaginable, just sit at your computer and you can buy: jewelry, clothing, shoes, handbags, beauty supplies, kitchen supplies, electronics, home décor, home solutions, health supplies, and toys. And if you get a little lonely, considering you’re doing everything with the convenience of the Internet from the comfort of your own home, then why not get a pet, but driving to the pet store is such a hassle. Well thanks to the wonderful Internet you can either adopt or purchase a companion and then have it shipped to you. Sites such as www.petfinder.com and www.gotpetsonline.com offer a wide variety of animals both for sale and adoption and www.animalsaway.com will ship your new pet for a price. Your can do all of your shopping on the Internet but it all comes at a price, it’s a good thing that you can manage your finances and pay bills from the same place you do your shopping.
In these modern times and due to the adversity of the Internet everyone is starting to adapt to the use of the Internet for convenience. Just about every bank and every bill you have can be managed online. To name a few examples, First Bank and Public Service Credit Union offer online banking where you can manage your account, by transferring money, paying back loans, checking your credit, or balancing your checkbook. You can even get approved for loans online, all with a few personal questions answered. Online banking involves everything short of pulling out cash like an ATM, but what is the use of that when you pay everything with a credit card online. Even if you don’t have a credit card, there are websites, i.e. Paypal, that will securely take money from your bank account to pay someone else. In order to be on the Internet all this time you need electricity, well it’s a good thing you can pay your bill on the Internet. The site www.paymybill.com is the website that XCEL Energy uses to let people do exactly what is in the web site title. Obviously writing out a check and placing it in a stamped envelope is too much physical effort. The Internet offers so much, you don’t need cable or satellite, you don’t need a DVD player, and you don’t even need a telephone!
If you had to choose between Television, Movies, Video games, Telephone, or Internet, which would you choose? Why not get all of those in one? The Internet has the capability of all of those. But can you get a telephone through the Internet, well yes and no. Skype.com allows users to chat with anyone anywhere for free, all you have to do is download the software, the catch is that whoever you want to talk to has to have the software as well, so you can’t make emergency phone calls. But how do you get a hold of friends to tell them to get skype? Well there are many other forms of communication on the Internet, there are multiple instant messengers, as well as Facebook and Myspace, being the more popular, but since the beginning of the Internet there were blogs and chat forums that allowed people to communicate with each other. Not to mention the thousands of websites that offer users an email address, email is a quick way to get in contact with someone and send them files through the Internet. It’s the upgraded postal system and you don’t have to wait days to get your precious mail. As for the Internet replacing television you could get all your favorite shows through satellite or cable, but you don’t need to when the television networks put most their shows online. Cartoon Network and TBS are just a couple of stations that offer their shows online. If you like the “Big Screen” over a smaller one however don’t like the price, that’s not a problem. The Internet even has full-length movies, yes they may be pirated and go against the copyright law, but it is still a movie and it beats paying ten dollars at the theater. You can even get the newest releases thanks to the brave people that enter the theater with video cameras; www.watch-movies.net gives you the choice of several different pirated versions of movies still in theaters. Or there are websites such as Netflix or Blockbuster.com where you can order movies to have them delivered to your home If you prefer entertainment that is a little more interactive then go and download World of Warcraft and play with millions of people around the world. But what about your favorite video games from the past, well it’s the internet, just about everything is possible Gametap.com offers users some of their favorite games from all different platforms. Along with Gamefly.com, where you can rent new platform games and have them delivered to your house, all gaming platforms are covered with the convenience of never leaving your home.
Aside from all the other forms of media the Internet encompasses it also has content that is exclusive and found nowhere else. The Internet offers everyone the chance to have their own five minutes of fame, or to get their voice heard for practically nothing. Youtube offers anyone with a video camera, computer, and Internet connection to upload their own video. Blog sites like WordPress, which I am currently using from the comfort of my warn home, and Blogspot allow people to say whatever it is they want to say. However, blogs have fallen out of the mainstream for websites that allow users to create their own identity, even if it’s a false identity. Myspace and Facebook allow people to stay in contact with old friends as well as make new friends. These sites let users have a voice along with a face and personality. Overall the Internet is an extremely useful tool offered worldwide.
The Internet offers easy and quick communication around the world; it offers its users convenience beyond what any other form of media can. But all this convenience comes at a price people become lazy and have learned expect everything in a blink of an eye. With the introduction of the modern Internet the average people could live entirely from their own home. With all this no wonder the internet is the ultimate convenience.
