Internet Mobility

Mobile phones used to be just that…a mobile phone. Call, text, maybe play snake or something. Now we have a little computer in our pockets that possess the same capabilities of our desktop computers! We are able to access the all important Internet from virtually any place we find ourselves. Now things are not always perfect, there are certainly dead spots all across the country where we cannot use our mobile phones to their full capabilities.

In my experience I have not really come across a place that does not allow me to utilize my mobile phone. One place that put it to the test was when I made a cross country trip just 2 years ago and my brother in law and I found ourselves in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. The motel did not have internet but our cellphones had just enough internet for us to be able to create a hot spot so we could connect our laptops to them in order for me to do homework and he to do his work. So in my estimation location at this point really does not factor into how I access my resources. I will say this though. I had ATT when I first moved up to Boone. I had really no problem anywhere getting internet service. My family this winter made the switch to the “nationwide leader” Verizon. I have found SEVERAL dead spots in the places I regularly go. This has been quite frustrating for the extra 30 or so seconds that I have to wait for a page/song to load. It has made me realize how much I take for granted the ability to connect anywhere, and that I should appreciate the access and speed that we DO have. Being able to connect and say play music or get information from the web undoubtedly enriches our lives. Before people lived in a world where something like a piece of trivia being argued over couldnt be solved without going home/to a library. Now in the blink of an eye that information is easily accessible.

There also is another element that should be discussed as well. One that does in fact take away from the human experience. Now that we have the ability to be connected so easily and quickly, it seems that in some cases our in person relationships have suffered. People seemed to be buried in their devices to the point where they wont even look up from them when engaging in conversation with other people. We used to not have the distraction that mobile devices create, people would be more apt to engage with others. Now there is the ever present phone with internet that can take us completely out of our in person reality. I hope that moving forward we as a society realize that while having the mobility of the internet and our devices is for sure a good thing, it should not take away from our in person interactions.