When I got this morning I had tea with my computer. We've had this relationship for a few years now: sip, read a news article (who needs the television or newspaper?), back to sipping. Then I had to get serious and do my weekly accounts… write a check for this business, send a check to that person… all done with internet banking. I've estimated that I save over two hundred dollars in stamps each year doing this. No wonder the United States Post Office operates in the red.
Gone to a doctor lately? Their notes are done on a computerized tablet and then sent electronically to your files which are now nearly ‘paperless’. Still another government program saving us money.
While interacting with my friends on Facebook, a thought occurred to me. What would happen if a virus incapacitated the web? Totally wrecking it. Forever. Or, at least, for months. What would happen to our modern society? Everything is connected via computers to the internet. If the ‘net’ disappears, what happens to civilization?
The stock market wouldn't crash, it simply wouldn't exist. What would that do to business? How about communications? Gone. Education… hmm. How many schools still have blackboards?
What about publishing houses? Type-setting is done by computer. Well, there would still be a great deal of books to read. Just no new ones for a few years. Oh, my God! Facebook! Twitters! Tweets! Tumblers! Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.
Internet Crash? Banish the thought. There is no need to worry. I mean what are the chances that some bitter genius would write such an apocalyptic virus? Surely not very high. So, relax. Sit back and enjoy another sip of tea.
Robert Sells
Author of Return of the White Deer and soon to be released Reap the Whirlwind
Martin Sisters Publishing
Sounds like a story idea to me :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember times when we've been cut off from the internet on trips where the satellites didn't quite align right. We are sooooo addicted.