You've got to love the Internet. Of all the things people predicted about the future when I was a kid the Internet and World Wide Web (they're not the same thing) were not even figments of anybody's imagination outside of Hollywood. No inventor was trying to perfect them, no research and development teams in big scientific corporations were working feverishly to be the first to produce an instant communication and information-sharing global network. That was James Bond movie stuff, and the guy with the network was the Bond Villain bent on using it for world domination. Well it's dominating the world now all right but not for evil ends, as a matter of fact it's quite benevolent and democratic. The Internet just sort of sprang up on us out of nowhere it would seem as a versatile and faithful servant to Everyman but of course that's not the case.
It was actually started by the United States government as a response to the advanced technology demonstrated by our Cold War rivals The Soviet Union with their launch of mankind's first rocket into outer space carrying the famous Sputnik, the worlds first made-made sattellite. The Pentagon along with some prominent Universities developed primitive versions of the Web. Some scientists and communication companies got involved, the British Post Office put their two pence in, some more communication companies, universities, scientists, private companies and as always the U.S. and other governments added their input , silicon chips got invented, everybody bought a computer and bingo, the Internet evolved and burst forth as if newly hatched out of the ether it runs on to give us something to do with all those computers.
It's really a whole bunch of networks piled on top of each other, interweaving, tangled up, overlapping, shoving and elbowing the next guy and spilling doughnut crumbs and coffee on one another. Or something like that, it's pretty complicated. My eyes tend to glaze over when I'm reading technical manuals and scientific minutia. The info is out there if you're really interested in that sort of thing but the overview I got from good old Wilkopedia was plenty good enough for me. Some laws were passed authorizing the existence of a thing that was already in existence and it got the name Internet around 1988. If you're really intent on finding out all the nuts and bolts and exact origins of the thing, don't let me stop you. The information is available on the web, of course, so knock yourself out if you're of a mind to do so.
For myself though, it's enough to say that's it's another pretty amazing technical wonder that I get to take for granted, just like my cell phone, my computer and those boxes of tissues where the next one pops up automatically when you pull one out.
I never knew how any of those things work but I'm happy to have them handy when I need them. Unlike these other technical marvels, however, I don't pay a red cent to use the Internet. I use Yahoo for my e-mail, which is free, and from there I can get pretty much anywhere I want to go in Cyberspace. Why anyone would pay AOL or any other non-free hosting service is beyond me. I've tried AOL and there's not a dimes' difference between their service and the free guys, and paying a fee doesn't remove those annoying ads anymore that paying for Cable TV does. That's puzzling to me, like you decided to park your car at a meter instead of the free spot right next to it.
I often wonder if Internet access was meant to be free or is that just a detail that slipped through the cracks amid all that brain-busting science work. Okay by me, that's for sure. I've got enough monthly bills as it stands, thank you very much. Oh, I pay a small fee to a website hosting company to host bobcrespo.com but that's a business providing me a service for my business so that's pretty standard and I have to say, very reasonable. Considering that my site doesn't earn me any money yet I'm grateful that web business can be done on the cheap. My personal stuff is all free, though, so I put up with cutie pie names like Yahoo and Google who are after all billion dollar companies who provide great services for their non-fees. Who am I to tell them to get regular names?
How they make their billions also puzzles me. I'm guessing sheer volume. No, wait, that can't be! Ten million times zero is still zero. Oh, I know, it's the ads! That's the ticket, all those pop-ups and flashers and those nearly unnoticeable ads that are on every page you see on the net. I don't click on them myself but I guess enough people do to make it worth the advertiser's dollar. My son Rob who designed this site tells me that GoogleAds distributes billions annually to websites according to how many people visit the site and how many of them click on the advertisements placed on the sites.
So do me a favor, readers, click on the ad buttons on bobcrespo.com and buy something. I'm not sure what's on there at the moment but I'm sure they're quality products guaranteed to provide you with hours and hours of wholesome entertainment in the privacy of your own home or a lifetime of satisfactory performance, whichever one applies since the ads change all the time according to the whims of GoogleAds. Rob informs me that since I started my website this past August I've earned a whopping 79 or 80 cents. from the ads at the top of my home page. That check ought to put me over the top, eh?
So I suppose my site has a way to go to become one of those Internet powerhouses you're always reading about, where some twenty-seven year old guy named Parker for a first name lives in a Penthouse overlooking Central Park, has his own jet to visit his private Island in the Caribbean and his Chalet in France, owns a fleet of Maseratis and has a model wife named Coco.
That's not in the cards for me and wasn't my aim at all. I figured I'd put my songs up on the internet for people to enjoy and my stories too. The blog was Rob's idea, putting something new up on the site every time people come onboard and frankly, I'm enough of a windbag to enjoy it. And by the way, welcome to my humble little web site. Make yourself comfortable, stay awhile, unwind. Click on an ad and buy something. In a little while I plan to start selling my songs and some stories as well. Real cheap too. I'm in the process of recording some new music right now and should start posting them soon. Real good stuff, I promise you. They'd be right at home in your collection of i-tunes.
Maybe then I can make more than forty cents a month on the internet. You listening, GoogleAds? Maybe you can put one of those ads on my site for stuff that people actually buy. Is that too much to ask? How about an ad for toothpaste or something? Everyone buys that. Or cookies. Is there an internet aficionado anywhere who doesn't enjoy a tasty cookie every now and then? What about baseball caps? Seems like everyone and their sister is wearing them these days. Give a beginner a break here, GoogleAd guys and gals.
In the meantime I'll keeping slogging away, and blogging and singing my songs and posting my short stories. I can think of worse ways to not to make a living. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to browse around the site. You can look up old blogs if you like, read my tall tales, read my misleading bio or listen to the music or all of the above. You can even e-mail me if you're of a mind to, talk about anything that pops out of your skull. I find people fascinating. Stay as long as you like, take a nap on the couch if you feel like it and frankly I don't really care if you click on the ads and buy anything or not. Welcome .