Does the internet ruin or better people's life? Your life?

Like everything else, with moderation.

I use the Internet for those things I need to do, such as email, but do not spend more than one hour a day on it. Possibly more time when I can't sleep or during weekends.
Enuff2Eat said:
Your thought?

enuff
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The internet is a wonderful tool. It has made my travels and work much easier. However I am resisting the whole smart phone idea. In my observations it does very little to improve productivity and is a distraction. It amazes me how many people think they are multitasking when they're missing what's going on right in front of them. Especially when driving.
I have found that things run more smoothly when I check my emails just a few times a day. Typically 7AM, midday, and 6 PM cover anything that needs addressed. If it is of a critical nature - call me. Also, my coworkers know that text messages are deleted without reading.
However, like most of my advice, it is best followed if your truly FI.
 
Mostly good, some bad. I have to limit myself - it is easy to get pulled into spending an entire day in front of the screen.

Communication with my family is better, DW's family pretty much ignores it with the exception of one sister.
 
Very useful for figuring out how to fix things around the home, and cars. I've saved a lot of money by having internet access. But I often seem to get contradictory "info", and have to figure out which info to use, which to ignore. But overall, the internet has been very useful for me.
 
Overall. I'd say the internet has had a positive influence for me. I can compare prices on-line quickly, keep in touch with high school friends, track my investments, just to name a few. And there are sites like this one where I can learn from others and share my experiences. I do find, though, that it can also be a time waster. I could probably do everything I need to do on-line in about one hour a day, and some days I spend much more time than that just "killing time".
 
+ easy to access information about a wide variety of subjects
+ easy to find like-minded discussion groups (e.g., this one)
+ ease of online shopping, amazon for instance; bargain-hunting
+ increased contact with family via email
+ learn a lot through interacting with people I normally wouldn't meet
+ access to reading material I couldn't get otherwise
+ easy to get dates or create relationships
+ opens up part-time work possibilities (e.g., freelancing)

- waste too much time discussing subjects that aren't very important
- level of hostility is higher on the net
- easy access to porn and other vice-feeders

Overall, the internet has been a great boon for me. I'd never live in a place where I couldn't get high-speed internet access.
 
Th einternet has greatly improved my life. It helped me meet my current (and some previous) ladyfriend I have had for several years. It enabled me to work from home for a while instead of commuting to the office.

Many transactions and research/information gathering through the internet I would have had to do over the phone or at the library. Many other everyday tasks I can do from home instead of going out somewhere. Renew a library book, do it on line. Who needs paper road maps, go to Mapquest. Need to buy something locally, many stores (bookstores, consumer stores, even car dealerships) have their inventories on line. Need to complain about something, go on line instead of phone calls or writing letters. Then there is wikipedia for basic research, at least a nudge in the right direction.

Communication with others is made easier through the internet. In the 1990s, I made phone calls, wrote letters, and sent faxes. Now I can use email, instant messaging, and message boards such as this one. There are message board and forums for everything these days.

Thanks to the internet I did not have to replace my VCR when it died a few years ago. I can watch many TV shows on line that I missed when they first aired.

Managing and tracking my investments is much easier now than it was before the internet. Same for personal banking even if I don't use that a whole lot.

But there are some downsides. I have had to be careful that my wrist doesn't get injured from overuse of the mouse, needing a thumb/wrist guard for the last 10 years. My eyesight has not been as crisp as before although how much of that is due to simple aging I can't tell. I get a stiff neck once in a while. But I have enough non-computer things to do to keep me off line. Still, have to be careful.
 
I love the internet. I do have a smartphone (android), although I rarely text or use the internet on it. It enables me to have my calendar and phone book sync'd through google and Outlook to the phone - very handy thing, that is. I would like to use Skype (or related) more often but I don't.

I love the availability of things. I check amazon for stuff we need or google, and price shop - I buy a lot of basic stuff online to save having to go to the store. Shampoo in bulk, for instance. ANYTHING I have trouble finding. I bought a new kitchen sink online for a better price than I could find here. Plus I didn't have to deal with the sales staff...

It has made my life so much easier being able to look up stuff, order books online from the library and so on.

It also means I sit in front of a screen a lot - but I got used to that when I worked in I.T. and for many years before that at work.

The downside is I tend to email people rather than phone them.

I also find that groups like this one keep me from feeling isolated in retirement. Sometimes I go days without leaving the house but I don't feel house-bound because I'm communicating with people. You are people, right?
:D
 
It is a double edged sword.

Just last week, one night DW was playing on her Iphone, my older son was playing something on the Ipad, my youngest was doing some game on his Nexus tablet, AND the TV was on and NOBODY was watching it..........

I said quite loudly: "Great, now everyone can ignore me"............:)
 
Coincidentally, received this from one of my friends just today... A bit more than the internet, but describing how we who are in our late 70's, 80's and 90's are sometimes challenged by today's technology.

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter. I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, my 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating." You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship...
When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me.

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions, checking bathrooms, and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings.

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them with me.

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do fart a lot."

P.S. I know some of you are not over 70. I sent it to you to allow you to forward it to those who are.
......Not me I figured your sense of humor could handle it....
We senior citizens don't need anymore gadgets. The TV remote and the garage door remote are about all we can handle.
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Of course, none of this would apply to me... :)

Scrabbler1 said:
But there are some downsides. I have had to be careful that my wrist doesn't get injured from overuse of the mouse, needing a thumb/wrist guard for the last 10 years. My eyesight has not been as crisp as before although how much of that is due to simple aging I can't tell. I get a stiff neck once in a while. But I have enough non-computer things to do to keep me off line. Still, have to be careful.
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+1 Even after carpal tunnel operation, polyneuropathy is still there... (forever). Sneaks up on you... first, pins and needles in the fingers at night, then eventually loss of sensation that makes you feel like you're wearing gloves all the time.
 
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Midpack said:
+1. I certainly wouldn't want to go backward, the internet is an exceptional step forward.

It's been helpful keeping in touch with family via email. My Dad basically can't hear well enough to talk on the phone, without email I can't imagine. Sorry but I'm not going back to writing letters/sending snail mail.

That said, it can be a big time waster if the user chooses to spend time on the internet to the exclusion of life's other activities. Same thing can be said about television, alcohol and a host of other activities. The tool isn't the issue, the user is...
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+1, for sure. I cannot imagine retiring to the very nice but somewhat isolated location that we are retiring to without it.
 
To me, the internet is the ultimate innovation that has unlocked human productivity and innovation. Think of it...almost all of the knowledge known to man...available in a device you can carry in your pocket.

Market power has shifted dramatically from the producer to the consumer. You can shop the country...or the world instead of your local stores and mall.

I think of how many things I have been able to do myself that I would have had to pay someone to do. Small example...I had a 2000 Honda Civic Si and the driver window got stuck in the channel. Pre-internet, I would have taken it to a dealer and paid out the waa-zoo. Using the internet, I was able to find out what part I needed, ordered it cheap online, installed it myself in a short period of time and saved over 50%. I could tell you dozens of stories like this.

It used to be when I had a problem with a product, I thought it was just dumb luck. Now, using the internet, you can see many people with the same problems, and better yet, you can thoroughly research a product before you buy it.

Bill pay...in the old days, used to write checks by hand, pay for a stamp and hope and pray the USPS would get it there on time. Now it is all done electronically so simply.

I remember in the old days, I used to watch the predecessor to CNBC...watch the ticker go around on Friday nights and write down the prices of my stocks. Seems laughable today.

My two kids...live hundreds of miles away. In the old days, we would have snail mailed letters back and forth; can you imagine? Now we can video chat in real time.

I could go on and on. If you are not getting value from the internet, you need to examine what you are using it for.
 
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thanks all for your input. I myself can NOT live without internet. Every aspect of my life from calendar, scheduling, investing, banking, shopping, researching, communicating, how-to.. are all on line so my life depends on the internet. And I agree internet is a wonderful tool but in some cases, if not careful it could be harmful.

There are a couple people in our group of circle "overuse" this tool. I think Ebay, facebook, youtube, live chat could potential suck the life out of you if you're not careful.

enuff

I believe 100% respond positive in favor of the internet.
 
Putting on my big fat whiner hat, I'd say the internet is terrible for promoting junk science, misinformation, and enabling confirmation bias to an unprecedented degree.
 
Enuff2Eat said:
I think it hurts our productivity
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It almost certainly does ... but that is not the same thing as the question you posed in the title of this thread.

Having access to the Web certainly made many a boring work day more bearable for me. Productivity was down, but personal happiness was up! :D
 
I love being able to endlessly research any topics i want. I used to constantly visit the library for information that was alway dated. This includes areas such as health topics, references or reviews on a product or business, travel, history, geography, entertainment reviews, and more. Plus I can buy anything online without driving unsuccessfully to store after store. I've also kept in touch with many friends and family who I wouldn't have if I had to write letters or call.
 
photoguy said:
Putting on my big fat whiner hat, I'd say the internet is terrible for promoting junk science, misinformation, and enabling confirmation bias to an unprecedented degree.
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Unlike other media formats - television, radio, newspapers, magazines? If there's a fault with the internet is there is so much information to wade through, you definitely have to be selective with sources, not unlike television, radio, newspapers, magazines...
 
I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet. I am a software engineer so I depend on it on a daily basis for my work.

But the Internet has also caused incredible pain in my life. My first H of 20 years always had a bit of a problem with computer addiction. It came to a head 6 years ago when he started secretly playing Second Life for 8 -12 hours a day. (He claimed he was working.) He met a woman playing that game who he "fell in love with" even though he had never met her in real life. He adandoned me and our two young children for this lifestyle.

I supported the children as a single parent while receiving almost no child support. I pulled myself together and built a new life, but the damage the abandonment and divorce has done to our children is horrendous.

Meanwhile, the karma bus drove up. In time, I remarried and we are doing better than ever financially. (Turns out 1st H was also sneaking money out of our joint finances for his addiction.) Life has challenges but is good. We have a healthy net worth and plan to retire in 7 years.

For my ex-H, life is a mess. He has lost several jobs and makes a fraction of what he did. His beloved internet woman has scammed him out of tens of thousands and ex-H was forced to move into the basement of his mother's townhouse. He has a negative net worth and won't be retiring for a long time. I consider his computer addiction every bit as serious as alcoholism or gambling.

The children have gone to counseling and are doing better but will never be the people they could have been. Both children see how unhealthy his lifestyle is and are pulling away from him. They are doing well in school, have good social lives, and have bright futures.
 
Reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon I read years ago, when the internet first started, and most folks just had a dial up connection. It said all the productivity gains from the internet were offset by the time we spend waiting for web pages to download.
 
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aida2003 said:
This seems so true :(. I found it kind of sad when our family were having burgers at Five Guys a few months ago and we observed a mother and her son (teen) come in, order food, sit down at a table and both pulled out their smartphones. Then they got burgers and still continued using their phones while eating. So, over 20-30 minutes in the restaurant, the only interaction was 'what burger will you have?" at the counter. I was flabbergasted.

As far as information goes, Internet is wonderful. Moreover, I wouldn't have discovered other frugally minded people/bloggers who seek FI if not for the internet.
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Sad but true.

We recently traveled by train. In the dining care the tables are set for four so one is obliged to share. We had a similar experience: mother and son shared our table. They both had smartphones and actually spent the entire meal time texting each other!

zedd
 
zedd said:
We recently traveled by train. In the dining care the tables are set for four so one is obliged to share. We had a similar experience: mother and son shared our table. They both had smartphones and actually spent the entire meal time texting each other!
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My DH is always telling me to txt the kids to come to the dinner table from a different part of the house. I refuse and insist on using an old fashioned dinner bell. I hate anything that makes people more disconnected with the real world.
 
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