I am 25 years old, when midnight struck on the year 2000, I was a junior in high school who didn’t even have their driver’s license yet. Over the last 10 years, I have seen the internet completely change our lives, and not just Facebook and Twitter, so much more.

Google Maps

I make jokes all the time that I don’t know how people lived without Google Maps. How did people figure out how to get from place to place? Or find an address they didn’t know? Or find the quickest route? Now obviously I know the answers to these questions, but no one does this anymore. You type two addresses into Google Maps and it’s all done for you. This has probably saved most people a lot of headaches and time.

Yelp, Google Maps and businesses’ websites

Ten years ago when you were looking for a hardware store you opened the Yellow Pages and looked in that section. When you were looking for a place to eat you did the same thing or called a friend. Now everyone uses the internet for this. Looking for a Home Depot, hit up their website and use the Store Locator. Want to find a Mexican restaurant nearby, go to Yelp and search. I don’t even own a phone book. I don’t think I have every used the Yellow Pages in my life. Any people of my generation probably never will again.

News sites and Twitter

I don’t know anyone my age who reads the newspaper. And unless there is a major event going on where live quality video is a must (9/11 for example), I don’t know anyone who watches CNN anymore. We know that most newspapers are either out of business or in dire straits. I read somewhere that CNN’s ratings were at an all-time low for the year. In the “ADD” society of today, newspapers and even evening news casts are just too slow to get us news. Twitter has turned in my source for breaking news (I heard about the Mumbai attacks and many celebrity deaths of ’09 on there). CNN.com, Google News, Digg and ChicagoTribune.com have become my source for news throughout the day.

Reunions, Christmas cards and letters

Facebook has changed life for most people. It has allowed a lot of people to re-connect with high school friends and whatnot. But for people my age, it has made it completely unnecessary to attend a high school reunion. I can see pictures, find out about jobs and anything else I want about people I went to high school with. I don’t know anyone my age who writes letters anymore. Facebook messages and e-mails have rendered them obsolete. It’s cheaper, faster and easier to just shoot off an email. Christmas cards seem to be the exception to this rule so far. We still received a few this year but barring a personal note or “letter” they aren’t better than an e-mail that could allow me to catch up on what someone is up to.

Shopping and shipping

Online shopping has completely changed the game. I would be willing to guess that at least 75% of people with broadband internet did some holiday shopping online. You can cover a lot of different items in a lot less time than traveling around to stores. Generally the prices are better as well. Amazon.com seems to have become most people’s first stop when shopping for anything. If you pay for Amazon Prime (free 2-day shipping) you can basically get items in a day or two for no extra cost. Most of the time that’s an acceptable time to wait for something to save 10% or more. Going along with this is the way that online shopping has changed the shipping industry. I would have to guess that FedEx and UPS have seen a massive growth in business in the last ten years.