Computers and the Internet

When I think back of the first thing I remember doing on a computer I would have to say it would the playing a Winter Olympics game that came on a huge floppy disk.  My mother received the computer from the school she worked at as a librarian.  It was one of the computers that you almost had to know a code to do anything on.  I knew how to spell run just so I could play this game.  Once that computer was done for my mother would bring home new models of Mac computers so she could learn how to use them proficiently.  She would have me play on them and figure them out so I was able to teach her what to do.  She still relies on me to explain the computer to her.  My earliest memory of the Internet in my home is kind of funny looking back.  I lived in a very rural area.  Almost everywhere was long distance to call and I wasn't allowed to call long distance because it was expensive.  I had a friend that came to stay the night with me and brought her laptop with her.  We were able to use my phone line to hook up to her dial-up internet, which was long distance.  We were online all night talking on AOL chat.  We had so much fun.  We also never thought about the fact that Stephanie's house was long distance so the entire time we were on there it charged my parents home phone line.  Boy were they upset when they got a $400 phone bill the next month.  Luckily, the telephone company took it off the bill since I was barely 11 years old.  I guess you could consider that being my first computer mistake I made because I was grounded for a while after that one.  I think these experiences stuck in my mind because at the time they were completely new to everyone so it made everything more exciting.  It wasn't like I was learning something that is almost a daily activity from birth, the beginning of my life these things were unheard of.  Also I think the fact that both are still here and have stuck around really helps keep memories in my mind.  I'll have stories to tell my grandchildren about the last generation to not have computers and the Internet in every household.  Now I feel that having both is a vital necessity to almost everyone.  It is a great learning tool that I utilize everyday, especially in school.  Most of my textbooks for school and the majority of my schoolwork is done online or on a computer or tablet.  I know life existed before computers and Internet, they just really make everything more conveniently done.  It is almost displacement theory to the library because I very seldom go to the library to do research.  I have all the research I need in the palm of my hand.  I can learn about anything I have ever wanted to.  It has definitely made things a lot easier.  As far as what else I use it for the most would be maps.  I can pull up a map no matter where I am and even get spoken directions on my phone.  I feel my phone doubles as a mini computer because there really isn't much I can't do on it that I can on the computer.  I also check facebook and connect with my family and friends out of state.  I can only think on positive way the computer and Internet have impacted me.  They give me the ability to be informed about anything I want to do and be in touch with people that matter most.