It was roughly 1995 when I visited an internet cafe with my mom, and for the first time I got to sign on to the internet. At the time the internet was known as AOL 2.0, which by today’s standards was not the internet at all. Little did I know when I saw this slow and noisy connection that it would become a major part of my daily life.

That day I found my way to the homepage of Dreamworks and I sent an email to the webmaster about this script idea I had. I had no clue how this technology worked and I could not have imagined the level of complexity it would reach in ten years. Every day I sit in front of two computers at work and use email, office applications, and development tools. At home I sit in front of three computers (maybe two if Beth is playing her game) using the same applications.

In 1996 I began learning HTML which was the fad. Today I’m embarrassed to call myself web designer because it comes with a stereotype of someone trying to hold on to a fad that died with the dot-com bubble burst. It sounds like it’s just someone creating fancy GIF animations for a webpage that only family members will see.

I am a web designer and I won’t deny it, but I’d like to point out that today it’s about programming, usability design, designing for accessibility and mobile devices, and has little to do with pages full of animated GIFs.

One year I’m learning HTML and the next I’ve got a brain full of acronymns and initialisms like PHP, ASP, SQL, JavaScript, XML, RSS, CSS, and more. The internet has opened up a world of information all by itself, let alone the world of information that already existed. People with access to the internet now have so much more information streaming before their eyes that it’s almost impossible to keep up with.

I use BlogLines - a great website that allows me to read any RSS feed I have subscribed to. RSS feeds allow me to view headlines for each website that offers the service in a single location. Right now I subscribe to 75 feeds, which means that by viewing one single page I can see the headlines from all 75 websites at once. This application is a real time-saver as it means I don’t have to visit all 75 websites individually, I just visit one.

That’s a lot of information that my eyes need to run through, and I need to be selective about what I click on. I don’t have time to visit each article after eliminating the ones that don’t even interest me. I glance at the headlines of about 300+ articles and links every day. I also need to check my email at work and at home and read through more information there.

With so much information presented to me every single day, I’m lucky that computers have become their own solution.

Gmail - I use it as my email client as it has some excellent features you can’t find elsewhere. Whether you use Gmail or not, the options available for storing, searching, and retreiving email you’ve received over the last several years is getting easier every year. E-mail is useful because it allows me to have a conversation when it’s convenient for both sides, and because it automatically becomes documentation of what was said. Even though some things are best left for real-world conversations, email has made things easier to keep track of.

BlogLines - Using news feeds from your favorite websites allows you to easily view customize news and content listings whenever you’re ready. I can read up to the minute news, articles, daily links, weather information and alerts in a single location. Only the feeds that I add will show up and I can access them at any time.

Writely - Writley is one of many newer web applications that are quickly becoming better tools than early Windows programs were. It is one of many web-based office applications that allow you to edit a document just like you can in Word, create spreadsheets like Excel, and much more. The benefit is that because it was developed for the internet, it’s accessible from anywhere. Word costs $150 by itself, Writely costs a minute or two of time to sign up and the cost of an internet connection.

Ta-Da List - This is a great task tracking application. It’s easy to add and manage tasks you need to complete, from the smallest things to larger projects. It’s features are simple because it’s free, but it works.

The nice thing is that all of the tools I’ve listed above are free - 100%. I can bank, shop, watch TV, listen to radio, rent movies, and even take college classes on the internet.

It’s getting difficult to remember that you can do these things in the real world to. I can’t even imagine what the internet will become for my little boy. With it’s power and complexity today, I cannot imagine it in another ten years.