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As an example of how much we’d all ‘progressed’, a travel company recently made a presentation which included some slides of families down the years.

The 2006 slide showed Dad on a computer, doing his accounts, Mum watching a film on another computer and little Johnny playing, you guessed it, a computer game.

When I looked at it, I couldn’t help wondering whether this really was progress.

I love computers and the Internet. As a journalist, they have been a godsend. When I first started working, we wrote on typewriters, with a carbon sheet between two pieces of paper. We had to cross out mistakes and rewrite stories when the script became unreadable. Endless hours were wasted throwing paper away and starting again. Now, with a word processor, you can simply juggle words around and save thousands of trees at the same time.

The Internet has been the best invention since sliced bread. Much of my work involves research and I used to go to libraries to find out information that is now available at the touch of the button. I also love the fact that I can find out football and cricket scores as they happen, wherever I am in the world. I buy everything, from holidays to books, on the Internet.

And yet, there are downsides. People simply don’t talk to each other as much because they are glued to screens. Kids are becoming obese because they sit around playing computer games instead of taking exercise. Single people don’t bother chatting each other up anymore; they simply go on singles websites and arrange to meet people.

We can’t go backwards and neither would I want to. Take away my internet access and I’d scarcely know how to function. But before we all turn into geeks, I think it’s time to encourage more social interaction – no doubt this can happen over the web!

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Tuesday, May 30th, 2006