I Broke Down on the Information Superhighway

This post was written by Jacob McNulty

My Dad grew up in a rural part of Kentucky in the late 30’s and early 40’s. The automobile certainly wasn’t ubiquitous during that period and many of my Dad’s encounters with cars involved some sort of trouble. If they were able to get the engine to start it usually didn’t take long before one of the tires was flat.

Fast forward to 1995 and my first exposure to the Internet. I feel like I’ll be regaling my own children someday about the trials and tribulations from the early days of the Information Superhighway. I’m preparing my stories now…

“Back in my day we used dial-up to connect only after a few minutes of the most unusual noises you can imagine. Then came wireless and we used to have to unlpug and restart our routers daily to keep connected…you kids don’t know how good you have it.”

It doesn’t have quite the same impact as walking to school in the snow with cardboard shoes uphill both ways but, hey, it’s what I know.

Due to our heavy travel schedules my wife and I work from home quite a bit.  Our internet service went out yesterday and this is just the latest in a long line of events that seem to want to keep us disconnected. I know that children being born today will not have these issues to contend with as we’re still in the infancy stage of the World Wide Web and things will only get more seamless.

When I check into a hotel or log onto a remote network there is always a slight sense of relief when I see my home page load.  This is a feeling that my yet-to-be-born children will likely never know.  Being connected to the Internet to them will worry them as much as starting my car worries me today - and that’s not much.

It’s exciting to be part of the beginning of the Internet revolution that has catapulted us into a knowledge society - using Web 2.0 technology I can now compile all of the stories needed to assure children and grandchildren that the Internet as they know it is a blessing for which they should rejoice…if only I can stay connected long enough to post this… 

Tags: business training, corporate training, development, learning, learning strategies, organizational learning, professional development, Web 2.0, workforce development