Meetings, grocery shopping, selling stuff which we found under a thick layer of dust during spring cleaning or even searching for love.
Things which very recently were considered to be unthinkable are now an integral part of our everyday lives, and here are some of the more unexpected ones.
1. Finding our significant other
What if someone told you 20 years ago that someday people would be looking for love using what is essentially a highly intricate code made up of 0’s and 1’s? Although it most likely seemed crazy then, today nobody would bat an eye if you tell them that you and your partner met through a dating site when asked over a couple of after-work cocktails. Some people may claim that this has made people too picky as the illusion of choice becomes exceedingly high while some say Online Dating is the best thing sliced bread.
2. Finding information in seconds
Imagine not being able to Google that actress whose name eludes you. How about a trip to library when you just can’t remember the capital of Tanzania? In a matter of seconds, you’ll find out that it’s Dodoma. Libraries have served the purpose of accessing information for thousands of years, some of the first dating back to 2600 BC. Although libraries definitely still have a purpose and place in society, having one of their largest uses throughout millennia’s extinguished in a matter of decades certainly weren’t a stock many would buy in on.
3. Holding meetings
Before we could only daydream about attending an important meeting wearing nothing but our pajamas, or less. With the introductions of online-meetings however, that dream is now reality. Just make sure that it is not a video-meeting!
4. Games
The enjoyment of gathering with friends and family for a round of Battleship, Risk or Monopoly found competition with the introduction of Online Gaming. Having multiple tournaments annually with prize-pools at millions of dollars involving skillfully playing games might have been every child’s dream not too long ago. Well, it seems that sometimes dreams do come true. Just as the beloved table-top games found a worthy competitor, so did the multi-billion dollar industry of Gambling. Online casino’s are now able to rival even the most prestigious Last Vegas casinos, and going face-to-face with the Live dealers in your own living room is certainly an experience which rivals that of the magical Las Vegas.
5. Finding our way to the nearest Starbucks
Although it sounds unbelievable in this day and age, there was once a thing called maps which helped us locate the area we wanted to go to. GPS came earlier than the public access to Internet but the combination of the two is what made maps near irrelevant in today’s society. Maps are still widely used but the average people most likely only find them useful when looking for the way to the restaurant-area of an IKEA.
An argument can be made for either case when discussing whether taking our lives more and more online is good for us or not, but one thing is for certain. It is convenient!