02-26-2009, 05:45 PM
I had to look up something for my son's sock puppet my wife was making with him last night - the color of Thomas Jefferson's eyes. I got the info I wanted in less than 10 seconds. Now compare that to the time it would have taken to not just go get a book, but then read and find it within that book. And that's just one source. I was able to scan and collect multiple sources in less than 10 seconds for info that was good enough to go with.
Now multiply that out all year with all sorts of stuff I look up and the time saving alone is mind-blowing. It was my coin collecting that got me hooked originally. I was able get answers and chat with experts to get opinions and varieties identified that would have taken forever to do before the net. Many things would be impossible, or practically impossible, to research thoroughly at all - nevermind in a few minutes or a few hours. Some of the coin stuff alone wasn't even in books. Another example was some animation software I was using. I needed help with something not found in the books, and no 800 number person was going to be able to help me with, if there was even a 800 number for it (I can't remember). I needed someone who knew the software intimately. I posted my question in the middle of the night - the first forum I ever visited. Some dude in Japan answered me in 10 minutes with a solution. I was in shock to say the least. Weeks of playing and asking around resolved in 10 minutes.
Now multiply that out all year with all sorts of stuff I look up and the time saving alone is mind-blowing. It was my coin collecting that got me hooked originally. I was able get answers and chat with experts to get opinions and varieties identified that would have taken forever to do before the net. Many things would be impossible, or practically impossible, to research thoroughly at all - nevermind in a few minutes or a few hours. Some of the coin stuff alone wasn't even in books. Another example was some animation software I was using. I needed help with something not found in the books, and no 800 number person was going to be able to help me with, if there was even a 800 number for it (I can't remember). I needed someone who knew the software intimately. I posted my question in the middle of the night - the first forum I ever visited. Some dude in Japan answered me in 10 minutes with a solution. I was in shock to say the least. Weeks of playing and asking around resolved in 10 minutes.
