BWJones's Journal: Time passes so fast

Wow. So I just had a realization after responding to a post with this answer.

Man, my first email account was created back in 1990 or 1991 and I have been wired for well over half my life (I am now 32). Jeez, I remember that it seemed it was actually possible to keep up with all the information in the newsgroups at the time and we were using text based "browsers" called Gopher and Veronica. They were really just simplified search tools, but it was how I got information back and forth and was just as much a revelation to me as the first modem in my Apple ][+ was. My first online experience was with that same Apple ][+ hacking into phone companies after the ma-bell split up to get long distance codes so I could communicate via term with people all over the world. That was pretty heady stuff for a 12 year old back in 1982. I realize now that was stealing, and I make no excuses, but times *were* different back then and hacking was not malicious (at least not from me). There were lots of BBS's around that you could also go to like the Crystal Caverns, and the Pirates Cove. I think that is when I permanently set my circadian rhythm to that of nocturnal preference by dialing in to these services late at night when my parents were either at the lab or going back to school.

My first exposure to what we now call the web was with one of the coolest looking computers ever made, the NeXT cube. I remember thinking that just as when I saw my first GUI on an Apple Lisa, that the "web" was going to change life forever. This was the way that information would be handled, thus making it easy for people to find and access data and learn. Unbelievable, but I would now be completely lost without the Internet. I perform journal research over the web whereas previously one had to go to libraries and look through card catalogues. Remember those? One can now cover so much more information using proper tools on the web in an afternoon that you could previously in an entire week at the library. I collaborate with other scientists from all over the world and within my own work environment by posting information and data to my workstation server (OS X is soooo cool.). I shop online so that driving down to the hateful mall no longer has to occur saving the environment and keeping the miles off of our cars. I make travel reservations online, purchase gifts online, hell, I even purchased my new 4Runner online from a particularly progressive Toyota dealer saving me the grief and time one usually has to spend when buying a car.

It's really weird how pervasive this has become and I feel we are only at the very beginning of it all. Sometimes I lay awake at night just thinking of all the possibilities that could/will be, and it is almost overwhelming. This is why I have no problems with being a consultant to various companies. There are all these ideas that I would love to see come to fruition, but there is no way that I can do everything myself. Besides, ideas are cheap. It's implementing them that get's expensive.

Agreed

[iomud]

I would hope our little space in time will be regarded as "The Information Age". While we are only at the very beginning I hope one day all the knowledge of the world might be at the fingertips of all who might seek it. It's great to be able to say you were there in it's infancy and got to see it as a toddler, who knows how far it might go.

Re:Agreed

[BWJones]

I would hope our little space in time will be regarded as "The Information Age". While we are only at the very beginning I hope one day all the knowledge of the world might be at the fingertips of all who might seek it. It's great to be able to say you were there in it's infancy and got to see it as a toddler, who knows how far it might go.

That is a lovely democratic vision. However, as many unfortunately seem to believe, information is power and they will leverage it to their advantage. (interesting Fr

Do you do photography?

[FrigidRage]

Whoa. I used to have a subscription to MacAddict magazine. Today I noticed one of the pictures from a magazine says "PHOTOGRAPH BY W.B. JONES". That's really close to your /. name. Probably just a weird coincidence, but I just thought I'd check...?

Re:Do you do photography?

[BWJones]

I used to do quite a bit of photography as film was one of my first undergraduate majors in college which was supplanted by chemistry then biology. At any rate, some of my aerial abstract photography has been featured in local publications, presentations and television, but I cannot claim to be the W.B. Jones in your magazine.