How many times a day do you think about how cool the internet is? I mean really!!! I need a phone number, an obscure book, advice on child rearing, cool clothes or baby gear, I want to chat with friends from around the world, or watch a video clip on the latest news. No matter what I need to do, see, or buy, I can get the scoop via the web.

It really wasn’t that long ago that we had to use the phone, go to the library, travel to trade shows or struggle to make important connections via the inner circle. Now, relationships can be made and fostered without ever meeting the other person face-to-face. Deals are done, money moved, promises created and lives changed on the facts and fiction via the net.
Look at the people who jokingly put their baby for sale on Craigslist. There was a man who traded a paper clip into a house. More love connections have been made than one can count, and pictures, descriptions and videos clips have surely exposed millions to things they have never scene before.

I remember not to too long ago asking a friend, “what’s a blog?”, “how do I Skype?” and “who is Craig?”. Now, I use those terms daily. My sixteen year old nephew gives me tips on how to stay connected and my four year has already learned how to find his favorite site online. Recently, a friend I made 16 years ago while traveling in the Dominican Republic found me on Facebook. Missing my 20 year high school reunion was made up for, as I could view all the photos and events on My Space.

How is it that we can reach out, find out and veg out in front of this magical box 24/7? What is the line between using it, and abusing it? Some days I can be on the computer for 5-7 hours. It seems the first thing I do in the morning and last thing I do at night, and I wouldn’t begin to compare myself to any of the experts or hard core techies.

Yet there is a whole generation, an entire movement and many who know nothing about this powerful source. Lots of people prefer to stay OFF line, and using a computer is not something they do every day. Yet I look at my kids, knowing that computers are a mandatory part of their lives and I wonder what technology will be commonplace to them and foreign to me.  “Come on mom, its only teleportation”, my son may one day say to me the same way I speak to my mom about e-mail. Am I destined to be obsolete in the way I do business because I use a fax machine?

It is all changing and evolving so quickly, and although computers help us stay connected to those outside our immediate world, they also take away form those right inside our world. Many times I have to ask my husband to look up from the computer please, or requested he check his e-mail later. I myself am guilty of surfing with my baby on my lap and finishing just one more sentence before I get up when dinner is called.

Despite the ever-changing, always evolving, somewhat addictive technology, we do still need to remember that moderation is the key. Enjoying the net should be about satisfaction, and not neglecting the other things. Like most of you, I love being connected and connecting with all of you, but have come to advocate that being on the computer in a healthy way is the best way. Put your personal needs, your family’s needs and all the things you need to do first. Then make sure you are using your computer in a way that supports your body the best you can.

Standing on my soapbox,

JB