25 years ago a little thing called the ‘Internet’ was born – around the same time that Andy Carroll, Rory McIlroy, Peaches Geldof, Daniel Radcliffe and Taylor Swift all arrived into the world.
Recent studies show that 76.8% of Irish people access the internet (with a staggering 46% on Facebook) and over a third of us spend more than 20 hours online every week – that’s over 7 minutes every hour!
Why do we love the internet?
Let us count the ways.
- Email – how could we live without it?
- Entertainment - sites like YouTube and FunnyorDie give us hours of amusement
- Social networking - sites like Facebook and Twitter let us share photos and more with friends
- Instant messaging – like texting but free
- Communication tools – VOIP services like Skype and Facetime let us chat face to face with people on the other side of the globe for free
- Instant access to information – the world really is at our finger tips
- Mobility - it allows us to work from home and access our information when abroad
- Education – a research library for all levels of student
- Community – the internet provides a way for people to congregate and share ideas
- Smart search engines – that know what we’re searching for before we finish typing
- Real time news – freely available from a wide variety of sources
- Online shopping – greater choice with access to competitive prices, and we can shop from further afield
- Small businesses can share their products and services with new consumers from all over the world
- It’s a free marketing tool – great for professionals and businesses alike
- Blogs - artists, musicians, writers and fans of anything can find new ways to share their passion
- Online banking – hassle free, no more queuing on you lunchbreak!
- Paying bills – online billing means less paperwork
- Travel arrangements – easy access to the best flights, ferries, trains, hotels, adventures...
- Cloud storage – sites such as Dropbox & Google Docs make it simple to store and share your stuff
- Listening to music – it’s never been easier to find that great track
- Watching TV – whether it’s Netflix, Apple TV or RTE Player, TV shows are watched more and more online
- Professional networking – sites such as LinkedIn make it easier to find work
- 24/7 access – the internet does not have opening hours, it’s there all day, every day.
- Omnipresent – whether at your office desktop, on your phone, or on the Playstation at home, you can access the internet almost anywhere.
- Inexpensive – we get all of the above benefits relatively cheaply or completely free!
