Even before the pandemic, millions or even billions of people use the Internet on a daily basis for many reasons. Indeed, many people remotely work during the pandemic, which is possible thanks to VoIP technology that Zoom and other applications use. We tend to take things for granted and having a powerful tool such as Google, which enables you to find the answer to any question, and with that in mind, here are a few things that you can do thanks to the Internet.
- Search for information – As mentioned, Google is your best friend when it comes to searching for information, and when you type your keywords and hit the ‘search’ button, you get hundreds of thousands of search results in less than a second. Just about every book that was ever written has been digitalized and stored on a server somewhere and most of this data can be accessed online. Moreover, students can access free study documents like lecture notes, summaries, quizzes, and more whenever and wherever they want.
- Buying Products & Services – Millions of consumers use Google on a daily basis to source products and services; you could, for example buy a Komatsu 930E-4 exhaust from Aletek, who are Australia’s go-to company for mining equipment spare parts. Amazon is a global platform for private sellers worldwide and there isn’t much that you can’t buy online, which is very convenient. In not so many years from now, it will be the norm to order your weekly groceries from the virtual supermarket and your goods will likely be delivered by an automated drone.
- Remote Employment – If you are one of the many people who now work remotely, you will already be enjoying the many benefits that come with working from home; no more dealing with rush hour traffic, no need to wear that business suit and you decide when you work and for how long. Of course, working from home does require a level of self-discipline and as long as your work is handed in on time, you are pretty much left alone. You might have to prepare yourself for a video call with your boss, but that’s a small price to pay for the new-found independence and informality. At least working from home takes you away from the dangers of intersection collisions, especially in the rush hour
- Telehealth Services – This is the term for virtual medical services, which has boomed during the pandemic, for obvious reasons, and in most cases, a video call is adequate for the medical professional to make an accurate diagnosis. Mental health counsellors offer their services in a virtual form and if you would like to join an online yoga or Pilates class, most gyms and studios now offer online classes. This saves the doctor and the patient a lot of time, plus there is no human contact, which is a great defence against the Covid-19 virus and we can expect the telehealth sector to boom over the next few years.
It won’t be long before the Internet of Things (IoT) will be launched, which will be powered by 5G and will enable every single digital device to be connected, while AI manages the system. We are about to move into a new dimension of technology, with machine learning that can be used in many ways for the benefit of mankind.
