Are You "Old School Internet"?

By Duane J. Higgins, ceo
xtradot.com

Maybe all of the discussions this past week about the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web has caused me to wax nostalgic. Whatever the case,  I have recently concluded that I do very much long for the halcyon days of the early Internet.  What I like to call "old school  Internet".

From Urban Dictionary

"old school"

 

"Anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect." 

Maybe it was my rather uninspiring standoff with the 20 something salesman at the cellular store over the merits (or lack thereof) of the latest smartphone  that lead me to relegate myself to the  "old school Internet" category.  Maybe it is my affinity for the early days of the Internet when you had  .com, .net and .org and that's all anyone ever wanted or needed.

 Maybe I'm old fashioned or maybe I'm just a technology resister.  I'm  stuck in the Internet of 1998 and quite happy to be there.  What do I believe are some of the "classic" symptoms of the "old school  Internet" syndrome:

• I don't have a smartphone and have no interest in one. In fact my stone-age flip phone seems to serve me just fine. 
• I don't text and have never texted. Have never had a need to.  (I do understand the convenience and efficiency aspect of it. If something pushes me over the edge to become a "reluctant adopter" that will be it.)
• I don't do Facebook or any other social media. Never have. Don't plan to. 
• I don't do gaming systems. 
• I don't do downloads.
• I don't do wearable technologies or apps. 
• I have the minimum amount of technology for what I need to do. That amounts to my (circa 2003) HP laptop computer hard lined to the wall of course.  No need for wifi.

Not to worry if anyone is thinking that I'm up here in the northern hemisphere living an Amish-like type of existence.  I do spend a good deal of time on the Internet. You have to if you want to run an Internet business.  Like the notorious bank robber Willie Sutton famously once said when asked why he robbed banks and responded "that's where the money is." 

Of course, I know that there is a distinct chance that I am just a late adopter. Part of the latest raft of historys'  long line of late adopters. Whether involving the automobile,  television, microwave or the Internet itself. The folks who came to the party late and most likely were dragging their feet the whole way.

However, I am also reminded of the tales of the old time loggers in the northern forests who still cut their trees with a hand saw and use work horses to haul them out. Doing their jobs quite happily and efficiently. In a way that suits their purposes.

I kind of like the sound of that.