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In order to truly appreciate the value and the wonder of the Internet, those who can remember when the average home lacked even a television set are at a distinct advantage. Each step in the progression of communication technology is stored in their memory banks.

My earliest memories date from the early nineteen forties. Our family gathered regularly around a large brown cabinet in our living room. It was called a radio and it was treated with great respect. I wasn't allowed to touch it. It talked and played music and sometimes you could hear hearty laughter. I thought little people lived in there. It sounded as if they had some great parties.

Later, the radio took on a more somber role: it enabled the family to follow the bloody battles of World War II. My dad would glare at it as if it were part of an enemy battalion. It the war correspondent was skilled in using descriptive language, you could almost see the action on the battlegrounds of Europe.

In the late nineteen fifties, our family got its first television set. Now, imagination was no longer required. You could actually see scenes from around the world in your own living room. At first, the picture was in black and white. Later, at what seemed an exorbitant price, we got a color set. It was like having your own movie theater. Surely technology could reach no greater heights.!

However, this remarkable communication device had one frustrating shortcoming: it worked in a one-way mode. News, entertainment, variety and talk shows were delivered to us. But, if we wanted to express our thoughts or ideas, we had to resort to letter-writing, telegraph, telegrams, phone calls, or smoke signals.

Time marched on and technical progress continued.

I heard rumors of the computer and the Internet long before I encountered one. Our youngest son, who stilled resided in the basement apartment at the time, got a second-hand model and began to augment his school Internet courses with practical exercises. He tried to tell me what he was doing and how graet computers were, but it looked far too complicated to even attempt. At this point, I decided I hated both computers and the Internet.

Then the unthinkable happened. In my final year of teaching before retirement, the school board decreed that every child should have computer time every week. I panicked. I didn't even know how to turn the thing on. How could I teach anybody anything? The computer consultant, (yes, we were soon assigned one of those,) suggested I call for parent volunteers. God bless parents! They made my last year tolerable.

After retirement, I spent a lot of time on the telephone, chatting with friends and relatives with whom I now had plenty of time to converse. They didn't all live in town. The phone bill hit the roof and so did my husband. My son, who had married and moved out, dusted off the old computer and began to explain the intricacies of e-mail. This time I listened. The phone bill has returned to normal and so has my hubby's blood pressure.

Now sitting at the computer, I have access to the world. What's even more amazing and fun, the world has access to me! My parents, if they were still around, would have a problem comprehending the amazing strides technology has taken since the days of radio. I don't even want to contemplate what scientists will think of next!

Meanwhile, I have some catching up to do. I've asked for an Ipod for Christmas.

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Tytler.
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