The internet is a wonderful thing…got a questions about anything (and I mean anything) you can probably find an answer on-line…it is actually quite amazing…where did all that information come from?  And the internet has not been around that long…just imagine what it will be like in another 20 years or so!  The Internet started with the military in the early 60’s, but it was not introduced into individual’s homes until the 90’s with the World-Wide Web introduced in 1992.  Even then though it was not as common as it is now…I graduated high school in 1995 and still used the library and encyclopedias for my research papers…do kids now days even know what encyclopedias are?  Will they ever use them?  And that was not even 15 years ago! 

The Internet is great, and I love it – you can do so much…but it does make me question the future of the mailman and paper boy…how much longer will these jobs be around?  Yes, I still get the paper on the weekends, but it is just as easy to look on-line to find the latest headlines…and it doesn’t cost extra!  I do still enjoy a physical paper though…sit down in your recliner on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and your paper.  Ok, so you can have your laptop in your recliner now too, but still…something about the paper.  I know newspaper companies are struggling though – I heard the other day that papers now have ads on the front page, and several smaller city papers are now only available on-line. 

And then there is the mail…I love getting a personal letter in the mail…Christmas cards are the best and one of the few times a year people still send out physical cards.  Again you can do so much on the internet though…you can send people e-cards and I did get a few Christmas cards over e-mail this year.  I do not like getting junk mail and bills in the mail though, but those are probably what is keeping the post office in business.  Although junk mail can now be found in e-mail too and most bills can be received (and paid) on-line…which saves you money on stamps!  I read an article (in the newspaper!) yesterday about changes in the postal services because of the decline in mail.  The annual mail delivered in 2007 was 212.2 billion and only 202.7 billion pieces were delivered in 2008.  With the constantly rising price of postage though, why do people want to send more mail?  You can easily spend an extra $5-10 a month just on stamps for bills that you can pay on-line.  But with the decline in mail, the postal service keeps having to raise the prices…it is an evil circle.

So do you still read the newspaper?  Do you still send mail?  How much longer do you think these services will be around?  What else may vanish in the next few years because of technology?  Will shopping become all on-line, but will you only be able to ship them via UPS or FedEx?  Questions to ponder…the world changes so quickly and we are discovering and inventing new things every day.  So enjoy what you have today and although technology is great and we have learned amazing things with it…there are still some things that we may not want technology to take over…or do we?