[A guest blog spot by ISS Managing Editor Elaine Foxwell.]
OK, I'm the first to admit that surfing the Internet is not high on my list of extracurricular activities. I'm a bibliophile. Ive had a love affair with books since I was about eight years old and read Edgar Rice Burroughss The Cave Girl. I have nearly 600 books stacked in bookshelves. Now, the collection is starting to pile onto my floor.
I dont merely want to read a book, I need to own it. The fact that at any time I can open pages and explore new worlds gives me much delight. My dream is to have one entire room set up exclusively as a library.
Some in the book camp glare ferociously at the Internet and feel it subverts the value of books. Even though I can find information on almost any topic with a few characters typed into Google, Ask.com or any number of other search engines, I receive vast satisfaction in turning the crisp pages of a book. Still, we bookworms cant deny the value of the Internet for commerce and communication.
Yes, the one-eyed god is here to stay and is definitely making our lives more effective. I recently read that according to comScore Inc.s Media Metrix, Americans now spend nearly 27 hours a month online, up 8 percent from just two years ago. This has driven a 17.7 percent increase in Internet ads in the first half of 2007, to $5.5 billion. TNS Media Intelligence reports during the same period broadcast networks saw ad spending slip 3.6 percent to $11.8 billion. (And who knows what the WGA strike will do to future broadcast revenue?) Wow!
So, is everyone riding on the triple-W gravy train? Dont know. But I know my high-speed link to the outer world brings me many benefits. And I'm beginning to find myself enjoying an online aspect I never thought Id consider: gaming.
My youngest grandson has turned me on to a fairly innocuous, simple-to-navigate game (as far as online games go) that involves any one of a dozen medieval fantasy worlds. On the evenings when he has finished his homework, we meet long-distance and spend 30 minutes wandering fantasy landscapes, dueling with gnomes and goblins, mining for gold and copper, even learning how to fish or bake bread (see, I told you this was innocuous).
Thank the PTBs I havent taken the time to figure out how to use eBay. There are too many fun thingsfirst-edition books, motorcycles, horsesthat I really cant afford and shouldnt be trying to buy.
The point is my lack of e-acumen is such that I need online things to be simple. And that is what the new, revamped ISS website is for me. I love its clean, simple look. It's very easy for a cyber-challenged person like me to navigate its vast resources and find anything I need related to the magazine and this industry. Probably most of you have checked it out, but in case you havent, go look: www.insideselfstorage.com. Come to think of it, maybe its appeal is in its slight resemblance to the symmetry of a book page. Surfs up!