The Digital Bridges Technology, Apps, Gadgets, Media and More
The internet has made the world a more level playing field across a number of forums, with a virtual platform allowing universal access to the same educational, technological and entertainment options regardless of location. Bringing the outside world into our front rooms and instant news through citizens journalists, a huge range of fields have taken advantage of these developments – and consumers’ lives are made immeasurably easier as a result.
What Is The Internet?
In short, the internet is a global broadcasting platform. It is a representational infrastructure of digital networks that connect to send, receive and share information in the form of packets. This can be done regardless of geographic location, allowing users to collaborate from anywhere. As a result, the internet is the world’s connection of digital information.
Influential People
The internet has given average people the opportunity to become internet influencers, no HTML TM knowledge required. It has given rise to a huge number of influential people over its decades in existence. Some of the post influential people on the internet are bloggers and social media personalities. Others are celebrities who have leveraged the internet to solidify and expand their fame and public persona, like Chrissy Teigen. The most influential people include names like Matt Drudge, of the Drudge Report, and Alexei Navalny, who leveraged the internet to fight through the strong government censoring and propaganda environment of the Kremlin in Russia. In the years to come, the internet is sure to produce even more prodigies that will influence the masses of internet users.
Internet Positive Impacts
Schooling in particular has been made more accessible, with the example of remote schools in Australia often used as a shining example of the inclusive power of the internet. With local authorities having such enormous areas to cover, students may be a hundred kilometre or more from the nearest educational establishment – especially in the case of Aborigine children – and remote schools have been set up to ensure that all are provided access to education.
The process involves physically attending a school once a week, with work given out and classes virtually attended via online forums and webcams – and with a shorter commute than many schoolchildren who live in urban areas, technology has allowed these students to achieve grades that are often better than their town-based counterparts. Thankfully, slow internet speeds do not have a baring on students’ grades.
For Gaming
Away from education and into gaming, Sony’s ‘PSN’ concept, which allows users of the PS4 to play online together regardless of which member of the network actually possesses the original physical copy of the game has brought communal gaming to the next level – especially when combined with microphones and earpieces to make in-game communication as real as playing together in the same room.
Similarly, online gambling platforms, such as those offered by Lucky Nugget Casino, provide the same product – albeit in a slightly different manner. Their service allows users to play a wide range of casino games against each other, competing for real money and without the inconvenience of having to don their glad-rags and attend a casino in the flesh.
Instead of worrying about dress-codes and opening hours, you can simply log-in from the comfort of your smartphone and – taking advantage of introductory offers and bonuses with geolocation software targeting your local area – can have your initial stake matched to reduce the risk or simply give you a chance to get into the swing of things before you start burning through your own stake.
But the imminent release of the Oculus Rift is the step that many gamers are looking forward to, as it will take communal gaming to the next level. The headset allows players to literally see through one another’s eyes, and 3-D and interactive capabilities mean that users receive the exact same experience regardless of where they are in the world. As a product from the ‘Kickstarter’ initiative, it will be relatively affordable ($350 has been mooted as a starting price) in order to be made available to as many people as possible.
The object of the internet has always been to bring the world together – and given the wide range of gaming platforms, we will soon all be virtually together – even if we’re continents apart.
Internet Ruination
Nowadays, many so-called experts are wondering “Is the internet being ruined” by events like the Premera data breach? Some internet critics allege that the massive amounts of personal information the internet has made available to corporations has ruined the internet. These critics suggest that, perhaps, the internet’s true potential is being left to waste away while huge corporations make more and more money and have increasingly more influence over consumer decisions thanks, in part, to social networks like Facebook. However, it is important to remember all the good the internet offers not just American consumers, but those that need it most, like poverty-stricken families in remote developing nations. What do you think? Did the internet ruin everything? Is this internet being ruined by money hungry corporations? Let us know how you feel below in the comments.
