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| A world map colored to show the level of Internet penetration (number of Internet users as a percentage of a country's population). (Source) |
- The UK and Scandinavia are very connected, close to 100%.
- Western Europe and Canada are more connected than the USA
- As are Japan and the Republic of Korea
- Argentina, Eastern Europe, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia are as connected as the USA.
- No surprise that some of the poorer regions on earth are barely connected, the African continent jumps out, with one exception ...
- ... Nigeria. Not as connected as the USA, but better than the rest of the African continent, but I suppose all that money the Nigerian prince supposedly has has to be spent on something, I mean he can't get it out of the country, can he?
When I was nobbut a lad, there was no Internet, heck, we had a party line with a rotary dial phone. Seeing as how most of the folks who come here have been around a while, no need to explain any of those things. Hey, if a millennial wanders in, they can always "Google" it. (More formally, "perform a search of the Internet using one of the more popular browsers available. Google has come to mean an Internet search much the same way the brand name "Kleenex" means an arbitrary tissue, as opposed to just saying "tissue.")
When I first got into computers, at the ripe old age of 30, the Internet was in its infancy, heck, it was embryonic, I'm talking about ARPANET¹ of course. (Okay wise guys at work², I was 30 in 1983 when I started my sophomore year of college, after an 11 year break from my freshman year. I didn't start college in 1883, geez.)
In college I could actually "talk" to the computers at school via a dial-up modem. Pretty wild, but it drove The Missus Herself nuts, I had wires and cables strung all over the place in our tiny apartment. It was easier just to drive down to the computer lab, even if one had to wait occasionally for a terminal to be available.
Looking back on things, I realize how primitive it all seems now. Hell, my smart phone has a lot more computing power than those early computers.
And we use them to "tweet."
Hhmm, all that technology seems wasted on we humans.
Sorry I'm not more chatty today, failed to get into the endodontist on Monday. The tooth flares up every now and then, so I've got that going for me. If pain is "weakness leaving the body," I am one strong dude ...
But I don't believe Nietzsche, not for one second.³
Well, maybe a little ...
¹ Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET).
² One or two of my colleagues at work actually make it here accidentally from time to time, chasing a link from Facebook.
³ Aus der Kriegsschule des Lebens - Was mich nicht umbringt macht mich stärker. (Out of life’s school of war - What does not kill me makes me stronger.)
