The World Is Not the Internetby Dave ClarkI’ve been hooked on the internet ever since I got online several years ago. I check my email several times each day, hoping to hear from old and new friends; usually disappointed to find nothing but spam; unsolicited advertisments for ... well you know. Did you know you can "lose weight while you sleep?" That’s what they would have you believe. I get most of my news from the internet, checking the news sites from C|Net, MSNBC, MacSurfer and other favorites to see what is going on. TV news and newspapers no longer seem to measure up. Web news sites are more likely to have news in which I'm interested. Much of my time has been spent on my own website (my home on the web) to share my favorite images and thoughts with others. I get messages from people around the world who appreciate my efforts. It's gratifying. The internet is cool, there's no doubt about it. This is all well and good, but there's more to the world than the internet. Billions of people don't have or care about the internet and they're doing just fine. Lately I've been pushing away from the computer a bit. I walk in the evenings in the snow and rain. If the sky is clear, I stare at the stars. This is how the world has been for millions of years and it's a wonderful thing. As I look up at the stars, it occurs to me that I may have focused too much on the internet in recent years and I wonder what I've been missing. My point? I'm not sure, but those of us who spend a lot of time staring at pixels should be wondering. Are we missing something?
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