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Editor, News-Register:
It's funny to think that 25 or so years ago, America Online was not much more than a pricey toy. With a subscription to AOL and a telephone line we could "dial up" to a local number and access the Internet. It was amazing, wonderful, and so incredibly fast! You could download a picture in about two or three minutes. It only took two to five minutes to load a new webpage. There were emails, newsgroups, chatrooms; and AOL was the gateway to the Internet using AOL's browser or Internet Explorer or Netscape (and there were a few others, I think). It wasn't much in terms of doing anything real, but it was a whole new world.
Through the ensuing years, though, accessing the internet has changed and so has what one can do using the internet. The internet has changed our lives (and I am unanimous in this). Email has enabled us to keep in contact with others almost immediately from coast to coast and country to country. We can seek out services and research more than before. From utilities to banking, we are able to access our accounts quickly and even do business like paying bills, getting customer support. The days of standing in line or waiting on hold were being replaced by this "online thing." Why mail a check to pay a bill two weeks in advance to allow time for the mail to get it there by the due date when you can simply go to a website on the due date (or a day before) and pay instantly? That often could be the difference between one paycheck and the next.
Internet access isn't just a "toy" anymore. More and more, it is how business is done. One example that pops into my head is applying for a job. Many companies encourage online applications to appearing in person for an application; and many don't even offer onsite applications. Obviously, shopping has changed as well.
Access to fast internet is integral for our lives. It's a huge part of life for many or even most of us. We can manage our finances, get news and weather, communicate with simple clicks of the mouse. Or for those tied to their cell phones, with a tap of the finger. So, high-speed internet is very important and needed, especially for those with little or no broadband and internet access. We are no longer living in the days of AOL and dial-up to visit the Rosie O'Donnell Show AOL room to discuss the latest show; availability of fast internet through fast broadband is almost essential to living our everyday lives.
Whether it is shopping, ordering food delivery, managing financial accounts, keeping up with medical information such as test results and appointments, researching for information, access to fast internet is just as important as having a night light when you get up in the middle of the night. Personally, most of my personal business is conducted over the internet today. And I like it.
Everyone should have access to fast broadband to connect to the internet. Thanks to U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin for making it possible for every household in West Virginia to have access to quality, reliable broadband internet.
The next step is to encourage people to use it. I'm not young but I jumped onto the personal computer train in the 1980s because I saw that it was the way of the future; I had to either learn about it or flip burgers for the rest of my life. It wasn't a fad, or a trend and I am so glad I did because all my jobs since then required use of the computer and internet. It didn't take four years of college (I wasn't trying to be a programmer) but a 12-month course at a business school in Virginia (where I had been living) that was extended to 15 months because I was also working full-time to support myself. I got the basics of "Accounting/Data Processing" and everything else about using the computer and programs, I learned on my own by just getting in there and getting my hands dirty.
I've found many people my own age or a bit older and many younger people who don't know or understand using a computer. It seems incredible that people my own age don't know "how to use a computer." Come on! Personal computers have been a part of society and life for nearly 40 years. It's not new! As for these younger generations, they can play games and post idiocy online, but they have no idea about the practical applications in business. (Certainly not all, but too many haven't been taught in specific programs, Microsoft Office being a key one.)
For my generation and older, there is a world of help out there on the internet. Programs that can help you that you may never have known about. Embrace technology and use your cell phone or computer for more than texting and playing Solitaire.
It's because of the work of Capito and Manchin for making it possible for every household to have access to quality, reliable broadband internet in West Virginia. Let's hope it is quick so even those living in "the sticks" have the same accessibility we "city folk" do.
Joseph Cupp
Wheeling