The internet is arguably one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century. Invented by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, it has radically changed the landscape of literally thousands of different disciplines and media. It has affected the way in which people do work, share opinions, display talent, gain knowledge and spend their time. Thanks to the internet, we are able to keep in touch with people, both nearby and far away, and connect with other like-minded people from all over the world. Children are learning about it at increasingly young ages, and it has rapidly become a great equaliser, allowing the same level of access to people regardless of their age, gender, or race. The following is a list of just some of the things the internet has to offer.
Arguably, the internet’s primary function is the sharing and dissemination of information – sites such as Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia which includes entries for all socially relevant things around the world, allow easy access to information for everyone. This is in addition to the millions of pages dedicated to specific subjects; for example, if you were interested in finding out more about steelworking, then there is a wide variety of pages with a wealth of information about that topic. The same is true of literally any subject in the world; you can find sites on topics as disparate as cakes, umbrellas, nuclear physics, and sarcasm. Since the internet is hosted all over the world, its size simply keeps increasing, and shows no sign of stopping.
Another important function of the internet is allowing business to propagate in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before. Businesses are able to maintain web pages with their locations, phone numbers, opening times and indeed online shops, where people can order products directly to their door. This has had the impact of significantly affecting the way business is done all over the world, and in developed countries has freed consumers of the restrictions on price and variety imposed by the constraints of maintaining a physical store. Sites like Amazon are able to offer products at massively reduced prices due to their decreased overheads, and this has led to a greater choice for anyone looking to buy.
Leisure activities are of course prevalent on the internet, and this is one of the reasons why it has become so integral to our society. There are newsgroups and websites devoted to amusing content, and most people have whiled away a lot of time perusing such things; sites such as Youtube allow people to view amusing or educational videos as well as listen to music, make and watch cartoons, upload films for free, and much more. There are many multiplayer games on the internet, too, both free and paid-for, and these make up a large portion of internet traffic due to the sheer number of games available.
Of course, it is impossible to extol all the virtues of the internet without ending up writing about it forever; it continually changes, is updated and modified, and yet remains fundamentally the same no matter what. The aforementioned points about the internet are literally a drop in the ocean – it is so wide-reaching and diverse that you’d be hard-pressed to be entirely uninterested in what it has to offer.