The Internet in 2014 Is it a Need or a Want

[tankbug]

The things I do most in life requires internet. Without it, my job would be meaningless, and my entertainment options 50% more limited.

[Deleted]

So go back to what people did before and print off a bunch of CVs and cover letters on nice paper, put them in a nice envelope addressed to the manager and drop one in at each business.

That may work somewhere but not here any more. Now you have apply through a website or a recruitment agency - the companies have stopped accepting applicants via normal means and at the most return with a "Thank you but we only do it via these services..."

"In the past" is now.. truly in the past.

[Deleted]

That may work somewhere but not here any more. Now you have apply through a website or a recruitment agency - the companies have stopped accepting applicants via normal means and at the most return with a "Thank you but we only do it via these services..."

"In the past" is now.. truly in the past.

I can only imagine it varies greatly then.

I'd value someone's effort to present themselves to my company in person with a nicely presented CV and cover letter.

Ultimately, if you have qualities of value to the company, it won't matter and they will want you either way.

In some instances I can understand that it's necessary to apply online, it's a matter of convenience and some companies route all applications through a HR department that go over them themselves before forwarding either the application or the applicant to the necessary branch... But I still think it'd be possible to find a job without the internet, quite easily.

[Deletedaccount1]

I'd say a need which really makes it shame its slowly become so monopolized

[Tirivaria]

I can only imagine it varies greatly then.

I'd value someone's effort to present themselves to my company in person with a nicely presented CV and cover letter.

Ultimately, if you have qualities of value to the company, it won't matter and they will want you either way.

In some instances I can understand that it's necessary to apply online, it's a matter of convenience and some companies route all applications through a HR department that go over them themselves before forwarding either the application or the applicant to the necessary branch... But I still think it'd be possible to find a job without the internet, quite easily.

The easiest way to get a job is through personal connections. In that sense you don't need the internet. However that's hit or miss depending on if people in your network are in a position to hire you.

I can vary, but bigger companies are less likely to take applications in non-digital form. Even if you know someone who will give you a job, he or she will still have to put your CV through the system.

As for valuing someone's effort to personally present his CV, I'd say the actual reactions you'd get would be a coin flip between that and "didn't even bother to check out our website and/or couldn't follow directions there."

[Raptor With a Saber]

Seeing as alot of businesses are solely run through the net along with alot of peoples jobs and not to mention those that have disabilities using it for social/food shopping/other reasons and "normal" people for the same reason....Its pretty much like Water/gas/Electric in first world nations. So its a need i suppose

[apepi]

That is not the question though is it? Is the internet a need or want? Yes or No.

That is what I am trying to say...you can say lots of things a want or need, depends on what you define them.

[Deleted]

I would say 10 years ago, I would definitely define it as a luxury to have Internet access. But now ... It is a essential provision.

Without the internet I would have no access to research papers and current events, and to purchase journals is not financially viable while I am still a student.

Even if I worked full time, I would have difficulties affording journals. 1 research paper from either Nature, or Physical Review Letters or the like usually costs around £20, and I tend to read about 5-8 a week. Thank god for ArXiv (not great for chemistry though).

I use it to read emails, pay bills, play games, communicate with family and make friends (even though the latter is really hard ... socially inept in the real world still means you'll be inept in the internet world too)

Internet is important to education, but at the same time, having no common sense means you take wrong or miss information away with you and hinders education. But without internet access I wouldn't have been able to bring myself out of the hole I was in due to the socio-economic class I was brought up in. (Class system still exists in the the UK, and internet access has helped to break that divide)

I had an argument with one of my lecturers with regards to him dissing Wikipedia. As part of my degree, I make sure that Wikipedia is correct in relation to my field. Wikipedia is a very important tool in this generation, especially when used correctly.

[Deleted]

Want. A friend of mine has lived all her life without it and she's fine. I didn't have Internet for 2 years and I was fine. I like life with it much better, but it is still a want by my standards.

[napalm007]

I think there are two different categories of needs that people seem to be talking about. The first is things that are absolutely necessary to survive (oxygen, water, and food). The second is things that are necessary to maintain stability (source of income, access to transportation, telephones, etc). Obviously the internet isn't necessary for survival, but it is for all intents and purposes necessary for most people to have access to it if they don't want to be at a significant disadvantage both socially and economically.

If the internet suddenly stopped working for everyone, I can imagine that very bad things would happen worldwide. It would likely trigger a global depression, and everyone would be affected, even those who don't use the internet.

[Niroshi]

Absolutely a need, bordering on a right.