Happy "Sweet 16" Internet, we love you!

It's hard to believe that the internet is only 16 years old. Now I know there were other versions of the internet before then, but 1992 was basically the birth of the internet that we use today. I was in high school when the internet became popular, but it was outrageously expensive. My neighbor was paying for internet use by the minute, on a 486 computer with 14.4 kbps modem, can you imagine how slow that is. Well I guess that was before flash and java and the graphic interfaces we use today, so it may have been sufficient; I cant really remember, but his mother payed close to $200 a month for us to play around and and "chat" with people we didn't know. The internet has made people rich and it has also destroyed lives. The internet allows anyone to become famous, as long as you spend enough time on MySpace. A person can run a business on ebay from any place in the world. The internet allows anybody to be a writer, and be published. It is truly amazing what is possible today, and how many lives have been changed because of the internet.

What if the internet was suddenly gone? I know it's not very likely, but what if? How would you go on? Would you be able to live in a world that was much slower, having to scour through books manually to do research. Do you take all this technology for granted? The apex of modern communication and technology was basically given to every one of us, and we (as a collective) were told to do with it as you will, that is an amazing responsibility. What will the internet be like in another 16 years?