Internet: you appreciate it when you lose it

I am flying back to Greece for Easter holidays… a long flight around 4 hours. Plenty of time to reflect yourself, think about everything that you don’t have time to think about during your daily routine and most importantly… INNOVATE. By innovate I mean create something new, either a new blog post, or a new analysis or even develop your new start-up idea. And while you might be so excited and motivated, you realize that you have no internet.

This is my story and I am sure that you have encountered this at least once in your life, i.e. having no internet when you need it at most. I am sitting in this quite comfortable chair and want to write a new blog post but have no access to my blog. So, I decide to write (in Word) about internet access during flights, and want to bring some global statistics and information about such technology evolution, but guess what.. I have no internet.

I keep thinking and then decide to write about how internet and internet on-the-go (3G, 4G connections) have made our lives so much easier and so different than 20 years ago. Here are some examples.

 Find you way

While GPS technology has been developed many years ago (I don’t know how many, I don’t have internet to Google it), the real innovation has come through incorporating the GPS in our smartphones and enabling internet access. No matter where you are, if you have internet you can open Google Maps and GPS and get your real time location immediately. You put your destination and instantly get directions for the route you have to follow. You never have to ask strangers again ‘Where is Acropolis?’. Type it and you’ll find it!

 Get real time information anywhere

Using the internet can get real time information anywhere. For example, you can track your flight, your bus or even know where your friend is. You don’t have to call each other to know where you are, just share your location and see your avatars moving on the map.

·       Access any digital information in the world

Do you want to go sky diving in New Zealand? You can use internet and gather all important information in a few minutes. Do you want to know when GPS was developed for the first time? The information is one click away. Do you want to know how the weather is in your destination? Access any movie online? Order your grocery shopping? Book your flights? To name just a few… all at your hand using internet.

·      Work remotely

Sitting in the plane for so many hours, would be a great chance to get some work done. I can see my emails, typed even a few emails back (which will be sent when I get back to civilization) but cannot do much more. I am a data analyst and to work I need access to the corporate database, our online tools and of course grant VPN access.

·       Communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime

Internet has brought the world together. As an expat I need to keep in touch with my family and friends, and internet is the only way. International calls are quite costly and they do not include videos. Through  the internet you can communicate with voice and image at no cost (most of the times).

These are just a few of my thoughts while stuck in a flying metal container for 4 hours. J

What do you think about internet access? What do you do to make the time fly?

Let me know in the comment section below. Stay tuned for more "Insights from Traveling"

Fun fact: This post was written on the 30th March, but was published only when I got internet connection and some time to actually publish the post!