Vocal Voices

Splendid invention!

This morning I have:

Googled Heathrow departures to check Craig and Leilani's flight is on time.

Googled Manchester departures to check Monarch is bringing Michelle back to Malaga.

Ordered a sports bra from Boobydoo.

Booked a hotel in Fuengirola for Don and I.

it is a splendid thing isn't it.... I've often wondered how we coped before that (and even the mobile)

I've often wondered how I'd manage without it too.

I can't contemplate being without it

Don't know how we ever booked trips away without being able to check out hotels etc. When we did our first holiday to America in 1997, we did it all with books, a travel agent in Dublin who was the only one in the country that booked for Amtrak in the US, and phone calls made after 10pm for the cheaper rate, when we would be wired with the excitement of making the call. The trip was about 18 months in the planning, between contacting places by letter, waiting for replies, researching hotels through travel guides etc. etc. When we went three years ago, we were able to book hotels by getting maps online, finding hotels convenient for where we wanted to be, reading reviews for them on Tripadvisor and so on, and put together the whole trip in less than three months

It's a bit like the Curate's egg......

The ability to check-up on things, order and buy things, day and night, has changed the world.

My concern, though, is with news and information. A lot of opinion is passed off as fact. It then gets rebroadcast as Gospel truth.

We couldn't get online the other night. I started to develop a twitch
I'm the person who said in 1998, "The internet? What do we need that for?!!"

This afternoon I've sat in my warm living room with a lovely cup of fresh coffee and done a load of Christmas shopping.

Osc, it's invaluable when booking and planning holidays isn't it? I vividly remember calling City Hall in New York many times before we went in 1998, to get information on getting married there, and then double checking, triple checking...now, a quick search would tell me everything I needed to know.
When we drove around California I booked it all myself, and was able to find suitable hotels and read reviews, and then closer to the time I was able to check again to make sure that reviews were still good or there wasn't anything better and cheaper nearby, and if I necessary one click on the mouse would cancel the original hotel.
And of course, there's none of that waiting in long queues at the airport - check in online and go straight to bag drop and that's it!

Jo I distinctly remember scoffing at my ex in 2000/2001 when he bought home a PC. "What on earth will we need that for?"

I would be lost without it, having my online friends has helped me get through some really bad times - without it I don't think i could have got through

I remember in 1998 my boss got the internet and email, me and my colleague were gobsmacked, I then left to go back to college and had to hand write all my work as we had no computer - in 2000 my parents bought a pc, omg it was the best!

Kids these days don't know how lucky they are!

x

Kaz wrote:Jo I distinctly remember scoffing at my ex in 2000/2001 when he bought home a PC. "What on earth will we need that for?"

Our computer sat there gathering dust for such a long time, now it's everything else that gathers dust