Do you remember the movie "Back to the Future" with Christopher Lloyd as the crazy time traveling Doc Brown? Doc's friend, Marty McFly accidentally is transported back in time from the early 1980's to 1955. With the disturbance of the AT&T internet grid this past Monday evening, I felt as if I had ridden that flux capacitor back to 1980. I don't mind a planned vacation from computer use; a camping trip without electronic connection is quite nice. This unplanned interuuption was unwelcome and annoying. I take so much for granted about the information superhighway the internet provides me, from finding a quick recipe for dinner, checking my bank statements, to playing a game of "Words with Friends." And I heavily rely on internet searches in my duties as a dentist- the quick ability to check on potential drug interactions or email colleagues for second opinions is something I would miss greatly.
In my dental school years, I couldn't have imagined the high tech world of the computer and internet. We purchased large, heavy and expensive textbooks and took scrawling notes by hand in class. We relied on medical journals for information, with laborious searches to locate needed articles. Lectures were given with overhead projectors. I'm quite happy to be in 2013!
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