Welcome to September. There is a net saying that goes along with this month. “The September that Never Ended”. In the infancy of the internet most users were college students. A large influx of these users would gain access to the internet each September when school started. They didn’t bother to follow the rules and kept asking the same questions over and over again to discussion groups. In 1993 the situation changed. It was that year that AOL began offering users access to discussion boards on the internet. That year is now commonly referred to “the September that never ended” since there are always a huge influx of new users on the net.
By coincidence I gained access to the internet that year also. Probably didn’t check my email until that September. With my brand new email account at Lipscomb, I began asking friends at other schools if they had email. (Some knew what email was; some didn’t). Now it seems universal. Most people are able to tell you if they have email or they don’t. Back then it wasn’t so clear cut.
I began freshmen year without a computer. Each dorm had its own computer lab. My dorm room happened to be located next door to the computer lab. So I would just go next door if I needed a computer. Several were usually free at most part of the day. However right around 12 midnight all of the computers were taken with people trying to churn out a paper overnight.
And don’t even get me started on the MOOers and MUDers. MOO was an early chat program. MUDs were the same type of chat environment in a virtual world game. The games were addictive. I know quite a few former Lipscomb students who wasted their tuition away skipping class and playing these lame chat games. Many of them didn’t have computers of their own, so they stayed on the public lab computers.
Computer addiction is very real. I personally know at least one couple who’s marriage was broken up primarily due to the computer. On the other hand, I don’t think I’m addicted to the internet. It doesn’t get in the way of my other parts of life. I haven’t stopped interacting socially. If anything I look forward to getting out of the house and getting away from the computer.