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Friday, April 12, 2013

My name is Becci and I love the internet


I love the interwebby.  I'm not a total nerd but as I remember what it was like before the web was known only as that amazing structure built by your average creepy crawly, I can appreciate how amazing it is.  (In fact, we just had a Skype conversation with The Moneymaker who is in Taiwan this week, checked out his hotel room and the Nugget was even able to show him his new soccer gear and the dog's radical haircut!)

I first entered the internet world when I was pregnant with my first (over 14 years ago). I was working for a large company in the city as a secretary for 12 Leasing Executives.  We were introduced to the World Wide Web and at first it didn't make a huge impact as there really wasn't alot on it.  Then when I reached my six month mark the work got the better of me, the hormones must have leaked out and I had a little crying episode in front of my boss.  As he knew nothing about what pregnant women were like, he panicked and took most of my work off me, sat me in the corner till I started maternity leave and gave me the task of investigating the internet and what it might do for the company.  Total bludge but lots of fun.  I did do a bit of desktop publishing but I mostly read a lot of disjointed and messy websites and learnt what worked and what didn't.

Once I left I made sure we could connect our home computer into the web with one of those lovely, quaint dial-in modems (remember that buzz and whirrrrr while you waited patiently for it to connect?).  I then spent the next year connecting up with other mums around the world in forums and chat rooms learning how to be a mother. The.Best.Use of the internet to date (besides Pinterest, porn and gambling of course!).

So it came as no surprise that when I went back to work part-time I found myself a job at a local website development company.  This position taught me many things, including being a web designer and also selling websites.  I absolutely loved the work.  It was creative, fast and exciting.  I learnt how the retail world was changing and had an inkling how being online was going to be imperative if you were in any sort of business.  It also helped me create the website for our home business which operated for the next four or five years until we sold it.  We sold model trucks and machinery online to collectors - you can still see the site, Machinery Models, here, now run by the couple who bought it who have not updated it since, as far as I can see.

I haven't looked at in in a while and even though it looks so raw and basic, I was very proud of it.  I learnt Dreamweaver and HTML to make other (and much better) websites during my time there.  Thankfully it's become so much easier to create sites (thankyou Blogger).

Now it's all about Apps.  Websites have morphed into beautiful, useful spaces but apps are where it's at.  We're all looking at the big old internet world through our tiny smart phones and tablets.  Not so good for the old eyesight but now we can find a place to eat, book a table and pick our meal from the menu before we even get there!  Not to mention banking, finding cheap petrol, cooking advice or even reading a book.

It just blows me away having all this in my pocket.  It's a million miles away from when I used to listen to that endless whirring, dialing up at 3am while having a baby attached to my boob.

**Joining up with Grace for FYBF**

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