The effects of networks

As I sit here thinking about how networks have affected my life it is hard to imagine life without networks. My cell phone is constantly connected to a mobile network, syncing e-mails and delivering the days weather to the palm of my hand. When I want to relax and play a video game what do I do? That's right I connect to Xbox Live, another network connecting millions of people around the world so they can play Call of Duty against each other. If I want to check in on how my friends from home are doing I often log on to Facebook a.k.a. "the Social Network" to see whats new. The more I think about it the more I realize how much I depend on networks for nearly every part of my life. I use to networks to talk to friends and family, to stay up to date with my schoolwork, to play games, to look up information, to watch movies and download music. Just about every use I have for modern technology only exists because of networks. I have often pondered how people got through school or had a social life back before computers and cell phones because I rely so heavily on technology. However, I do sometimes think that the wealth of information readily available to us all nowadays has somewhat eliminated the need to actually learn. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not, but I am certainly grateful I don't have to search through a book for information anymore.