5 ways the internet can improve our lives

Since the inception of the World Wide Web in 1989, it has led to an almost infinite number of ways to improve our daily lives.

  1. House hunting

There are now several websites on which you can search for houses and flats to buy and rent, slimming down your search to only find those in a location you desire, are within your price range and have an ideal number of bedrooms. Past generations were not fortunate enough to have this modern luxury that we all take for granted, meaning there was a much higher chance of overlooking your dream house. We can now look at thousands of houses online before actually having a viewing accompanied by an estate agent.

  1. Connecting to everyone

Social networking has its downsides, but for the most part it’s a wonderful creation and without it modern society would look very different. Websites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter have revolutionised the way we speak to each other, and succeeded in connecting people (especially in social networking’s early days with websites like Friends Reunited) that hadn’t been in contact for decades. They also come in handy for small problems, for example remembering a friend’s birthday. These days it will probably take less than 5 minutes to check someone’s birthday, but only fifteen to twenty years ago it would have been far more difficult.

  1. Financial help is available online

Keeping a close eye on our finances is something that has proved difficult throughout the course of history. Now however, thanks to the web there is an almost limitless amount of businesses that exist to help you grow your bank balance and learn about your financial well-being. An example of this is stocks and shares ISAs investors Nutmeg, who do all the hard work on your behalf.

  1. Never be without a weather report

The modern web is so advanced it means that only a few clicks away is a weather forecast for almost every populated location on the planet. Thirty or forty years ago it would have been a stretch to find the weather report for your upcoming holiday to Los Angeles, but thankfully due to the internet and the new prevalence of smartphones you can easily check the weather on the complete opposite side of the planet whilst your sat on the train home.

  1. Translating

For the technologically knowledgeable people among us, the times when you would have to fear ordering food at a foreign restaurant because of the language barrier is now a thing of the past. We’ve all heard stories of ordering the wrong dish or seriously offending your waiter completely by accident. There are now a range of services available that act as translators for certain situations. Remember that the more you pay, the more advanced and accurate the systems will be. This article from the BBC outlines Google’s plans for its translator app to act as an interpreter. Please note that you should be careful when using Google’s translating service, because as a totally free service it can be extremely inaccurate!

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