The best Internet generation ever

Due to my involvement with this industry I came to a realization, This is the very best Internet Generation ever. It will not get any better

I've been using the Internet since it's infancy. When I had to dial into servers in the US for few minutes of indulgence in the early 90's and coughed big time for it, especially when my father received the phone bills

I had 3 piles, 1 meter high each of computer magazines in my room. So finding addresses in the pre-Google, Pre-Yahoo, Pre-Altavista was not a big problem. And using awkward different kinds of command line tools to get to drivers or play with some of the primitive Internet Relay Chats (IRC). But mostly was BBS (Bulletin board Systems). They were running at 300bps and later on speeds of 1200 and 2400 were a joy.

I remember the first time I bought a 2400bps Modem for 400JD From Ghazal, and Jalal asked me in his awesome American Accent "Modeem, what do you want a modeem for?" My friends Hilal and Abu Khadra still joke about it till this day. We were probably the oddest people in 1991 or 1992 creating a local BBS in Amman. It was fun

Then this thing called AOL, prodigy and CompuServe and Web browser came out, and now the internet was growing while in Jordan we were so behind. Couple of providers offered basic Email (NETS and Access), then GlobalOne/sprint ... and then all hell broke loose :)

Anyway, these are the Internet's golden age. know why?

• So much to explore and yet being able to find what you want.
• Your parents probably still don't know much about the Internet and what you spend your nights doing
• You can blog, chat, and interact with people as much as you want and most people who are on the Internet have a basic level of knowledge and intellect that it's not 100% frustrating
• You probably will know more about the Internet till they hit 18 or 20
• You can still enjoy some privacy and anonymity
• Number of security issues, attacks etc is still manageable
• Most companies don't know much about what you're doing
• Even with Google privacy issues, you can still enjoy a limited level of privacy
• Governments in "developing" parts of the world are still trying to catch up

What's the future? It doesn't seem to be as good

• You will be the parent and you already know how dangerous the Internet is! No chatting with stranger kiddo!
• It's no longer an adventure. It's a .. meh ... the new phone system. Exciting .. but who is ever excited about their old phone line?
• EVERYONE is going to be on the Internet, from unborn babies, to corpses blogging from the beyond the grave. AOL is probably considering opening branches in heaven and hell too!
• Your privacy is a joke, any site you visit will get detailed information about everything you ate that day and might advise the proper heart burn medication. Or even suggest Viagra++ since they have access to your medical history
• The number of security issues will skyrocket, and it will become a real damper on speed and accessibility as probably more than 40% of all the useful traffic will be security and encryption and ways to secure your communications
• Your employer will know ABSOLUTELY every single thing that you think of doing before you do! And will fire you based on that.
• Governments in developing countries will catch up and implement more transparent but very effective ways to monitor and eavesdrop on all your activities. Not only that but sophisticated attacks will be coordinated rendering the Internet useless at times
• SO MUCH CRAP will be on the Internet to the point that you will not be able to find what you want. It will be garbage ... garbage ... garbage ... an Ocean of garbage with very few islands of value locations

This is of course worst case scenario ... but there are of course a lot of hope in the future. Who knows ... it might be as great as now .. but I seriously doubt it will surpass the present golden age! So ENJOY IT! While it lasts