Boy isn't that the truth ! Having a rough time ? Support and prayers and wonderful friends to lift you up when you need it most ! You can learn how to do just about anything by video on you tube and tutorials online . Get a university degree and the ability to perform marriage . All from the comfort of your comfortable chair . Amen! And Merry Christmas to you all.

Merry Christmas to you all. I learn so much from the internet and from you.

I know. It's hard to remember life before the internet. I get all my news from there and connect with old friends and college roommates on Facebook. So lots of good but then lots of bad too. Election hackings, pornography, cyber bullying, extra marital affairs. etc.

I so agree. I like that things are available 24/7. No more waiting for snail mail!

I needed to take a four-hour Driver Improvement class in order to receive a 10% discount on my insurance. Rather than brave the cold, I took the course on line. I think I actually got more out of it that way......no other folk to disturb me!

But I was way more active before the internet... now I sit on my tush!

Oh, I agree on that, Moni!

Plus if zombies invade, you can locate them on your smartphone GPS and avert their attacks.

good times!

The internet has brought the world to many people who are unable to get out or have disabilities which can be addressed through larger font or other adaptations. Also connection with friends and family through various means.

YouTube videos can help in many ways and can be spirit lifting too.

But it has a downside too, like everything I guess.

I love the internet!! I wish I were younger--if I had had the internet when I was young, I would be so much smarter! As a child, I read encyclopedias...the internet is far more fun, easier, and more current. And I have made so many friends online, and have had the pleasure of meeting a number of KTers in real life--they are all wonderful people.

I realize that a lot of people use the internet for bad and illegal purposes, but that's life. There have been bad people since the beginning of humanity.

I learned how to quilt on the net! Just about anything you ever need to know is available online.

Wishing my KT family a very Merry Christmas and a health and happy 2017!

How did I live before the internet? Quite well. Don't get me wrong....I love it now but it can be a great time waster, as you can ramble down one rabbit trail after another, and before you know it, time has slipped away. I do appreciate the many friends I have made on the internet....a few I have met in person and most I will never meet and in fact, wouldn't know who they were if I saw them in public. I have bought everything from a radio to a horse on line. Actually, two horses and soon to be three. I have met many kindred spirits and for an odd ball like me, that says a lot. I do have to learn to limit my time.....it's not easy because I am not interested in television very much, and I can listen to the radio while being on line...even listen to it on the internet, if I want to. It is a marvelous invention.....more than a person could ever imagine.

When I got my undergrad (1973) we used slide rules. When I got my masters (1980) we used scientific calculators and had access to computer terminals. Those linked to a mainframe computer in a distant building on campus. When the first Macintosh came out I got one. Spreadsheets had been invented as had word processing software. A couple years later laser printers became affordable and portable computing really took off. The Internet had been invented but the World Wide Web was not quite there. Once that happened...oh my! I simply cannot imagine what it would be like to study engineering using spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are my right arm all day every day.

Before the WWW I used to spend hours and hours in book stores and libraries. Up until 2004 our only phone was hanging on the wall in the kitchen (and our monthly phone bill, including limited long distance, was $33).

I wouldn't want to go back in time to when I didn't have the internet. Wish I would have it years ago when I was teaching. Through the internet I have learned so many things and made some wonderful friends.

Merry Christmas to all of my KTers.

Amen to all the above, my sister is a shut in, we made a FB page for siblings and we chat all day long. It's the best. As for this group, I check in every day as I feel close to all of you. Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays ahead.

I am the last generation to know what life was like pre-internet.

As a child, we went to the library to look up any information we needed. I remember typing a report on my parents typewriter. In grade school, there were 3 computers for the entire grade, no internet though. We finally got a computer at home when I was in 7th grade, I think.

Internet didn't come to my house until 10th grade.

My cousin, 10 years younger than I am, had a very different experience and of course my own children look at me like I'm describing the Stone age when I tell them about life pre-internet.

Texas - Have your kids ever seen a real old-fashioned typewriter?

When I was in university I had to do what was called "canned" programs for my stats courses. We would have stacks of computer cards with all the information keyed into them and heaven help if you dropped your stack.

I do wish my kids knew the joy of leafing through the card catalogue looking for the references they needed for a paper, going to the library shelves and finding their books and then reading through them and writing out their papers. I loved doing that.

The internet has enabled an explosion of access to information. Also, an explosion of access to misinformation. New markets and commerce conducted between customers and leading sellers of products. Also, commerce conducted between customers and phonies misrepresenting what they're selling. Better communication between families and friends, and better communication between criminals and terrorist organizations. Kids spending mindless time communicating inanities and playing games. Also, doing research and learning from the vast resources available.

I spent my career in Silicon Valley and I'm an unabashed technology fanboy. I do keep it in check, mostly. The Internet is wonderful and terrible at the same time. It depends who puts it to use, how, and what for.

I consider the internet a tool, not the be all end all of my life. It can be fun, interesting and useful, but I also could survive without it.

Yes, to most of the above. I can't believe I have gotten addicted to this machine! It's a colossal waste of time for me, most of the time, but, it's a wonderful learning tool for so many things. I'm pretty sure I would be uncomfortable, if I couldn't pop in and look something up, or follow a tutorial.

The few times the power has gone out, we feel anxious to know we don't have our computers!. (we only have desktops).

do you remember this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_-xTxP1hD4