And So It Goes

It’s amazing how much things can change in five years.

Today I was out shopping and picked up a new 4GB jump drive for about $14. This got me thinking back to when I bought my first jump drive back in 2005, which was almost five years ago. Back then I was taking a class called “Style and Design in Public Relations Messages.” The course naturally involved a lot of computer assignments, so we were required to have jump drives to store our work. I bought one with 512MB of storage for $150. Today I don’t think they even make ones that small, and for the amount I spent on my old one you could get 32GB or more of storage. Amazing.

Looking back, I have realized just how far technology has come since 2005. Here are just a few examples:

Then: All of my music was organized in Winamp, and when I wanted to go on a trip I burned several mix CDs.

Now: My music is organized in iTunes and all I have to take with me on trips is my iPod.

Then: I had a little silver flip phone that I adored because it had text messaging, a camera, a cool color screen, and polyphonic ringtones.

Now: My phone has a touch screen, GPS, video camera, internet browser, mobile email, mp3 ringtones and photo editing capabilities, among countless other features.

Then: Facebook had just opened up to high school students and was still very basic.

Now: Facebook is open to everyone, has millions more users and myriad features that it did not have in 2005, such as notes, gifts, news feed, status messages, chat and applications.

Then: Most people had never heard of YouTube.

Now: YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the web and has more than a billion views per day.

Then: Gmail was invitation only. I had gotten an invitation and signed up, but wasn’t sure if I would actually use it.

Now: Gmail is open to everyone, has more than 100 million users, and is my primary email service. Also, Google Wave is on the way.

These examples represent only a fraction of the ways in which technology has changed in the last five years. I can’t even begin to express how much these changes have impacted the way we communicate with each other and experience the world. With the way technology is growing exponentially, I can only imagine how different things will be a mere five years down the road. All I can say is that I am glad I will be along for the ride.