True stories on how the Net has changed lives

Last week I asked, “How the Net has Changed Your Life?”

I thought I would ask because I grew tired of TV and newspapers
spending so much time on the negative side of everything Internet.
Gigabyte per Dollar, the Internet is the biggest American bargain of the
decade. Yet, I seem to hear so many reports on the bad side of the
Internet. How the Internet is used and abused. Things like the eBay
human kidney auction or the business reports touting Internet stocks are
overvalued again.

Many people wrote in. A big “Thank you” to those that responded
(sorry there is no way time would permit me to respond back to all of
you). It was very interesting and thought provoking. So much so that I
just had to share some of it with you. Here are some of the response
extracts.

Gretchen in Seattle wrote, “The most massive change the Internet made
in my life is the ability I have to get news UNFILTERED by the liberal
media.” Gretchen also wrote that:

The Internet helped my high school reunion committee organize our
last reunion with much more ease than I experienced when organizing our
first one. But what I loved most was this: Being somewhat homebound with
health problems, for me it is a lifelink to the world, without the
crowds, pollution, noise, traffic jams, and every other negative of life
in a big city.

Sandee in Miami wrote,

The Internet has drastically changed my life. I met my husband
on the Internet in early 1997. We were married on 4-4-98. Now I live
in Miami, Florida, rather than Phoenix, Arizona. I can e-mail or IM
(Instant Messenger notification tells Sandee a friend or relative is
sitting at their computer connected to the Internet) with family members
still in Arizona. Overall, the Internet has been very, very good to me.

Todd using MSN.com really leveraged the Internet to help keep
relatives and family in touch and immediately updated. Todd wrote:

My Mother was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and has
about three months left. The Internet and e-mail have made dealing with
the whole situation much less troubling. While we called all of the
family and friends to share the unfortunate news we quickly shifted
gears and went to a daily e-mail update. We were able to include
attachments and URLs for information about the disease which helped to
answer many of the questions. What a great idea this worked out to be.
In the past when we dealt with these situations our story would change a
little or be understood differently by each person we spoke to on the
phone. Now in 20 minutes each night we can update everyone on Mom’s
current status and tell them when to call or not call her.

George in Oklahoma wrote:

You are right on. I am 69 and just got on the Internet. I buy all
my books there. I sold a $5,000 truck sight unseen with cash in advance
on the Internet. Buyer was clear across country. I can sit at home and
make a little extra money each month without going outside in snow or
heat. Yes, it has changed my life. I love it.

Speaking of vehicles here’s one of my own money-related
experiences: I recently bought a used SAAB. I checked the Kelly Blue Book. Available is both the
retail the wholesale price a dealer would expect to pay for just about
any car . I now had an idea what I should pay for my future
convertible. Prior to running through the dealer lots I found SAABnet.com. I have never owned a
SAAB and wondered what to expect in the way of repairs. I posted a
message on the SAAB Bulletin Board inquiring about a good dealer owned
repair shop in my area. I received many responses from all over the
world about good and bad dealer repair shops. I was fortunate in that
there were many posts regarding the dealer close to me and all were
positive. Armed with tips from SAAB owners I now had a better idea of
what to look for and what to watch out for. I could never have gained
this much information about a used car purchase before the Net existed.

This doesn’t rate high when compared with the other ways the Internet
has changed my life. However, It was probably the first time I saved big
money as a result of the Internet.

Yes, it isn’t all great. But, the Internet is often good for a laugh.
In fact here’s a response from a guy named Bill. He appears to have the same
warped sense of humor that I have. So I just had to include this one.
Bill (no state listed) wrote:

How the Internet has changed my life? Gained 20 pounds and the
yard is a mess.

By the way, there is this neat feature which will allow you to
search all the
archived WorldNetDaily stories. Simply go there and type in Bob
Evans for the past columns.