Sure, the Internet is fueled by two things: capitalism (most website are just digital 'brochures' for selling something) and sex (thus proving the 'selling something' aspect). Most people do want more money and more pleasure.
However, when I realize that I am truly conversing with someone across the planet in real-time , simply blows my mind. Please don't let yourselves take that for granted... imagine all those pioneers who waited patiently for weeks while the Pony Express brought letters. Or before that, ships carried letters for months - and only if you had enough money and a fancy wax seal to guard against brigands opening your missive.
I remember when I first saw the World Wide Web. It was the "new" incarnation of graphic interfaces, an old browser called Mosaic. (1993?) This was before Netscape or Internet Explorer. I was explained what the WWW was... and it took me a long time to understand what "hypertext" was... and what "linking" was... imagine, trying for the first time to understand that I could be travelling from place to place in the blink of an eye!
I was so excited that I taught myself how to code web pages from scratch. I taught myself how to write HTML. I was the cutting edge... this was long ago when domain names were expensive. I had a website. I was there: part of something which "links" in that Web.
In my own lifetime (I'm 41), I've seen:
- TV come into its own.
- Home computers arose where there was once only mainframes.
- These home computers went from a few people with text-only screens, to almost everyone having one - and in all sizes, weights, colors, and speed.
- Record albums phased out, and CDs became "it".
- I saw VHS tapes come in (we were the first on our block), and now we have DVDs with interactivity.
- When I was young, no one had answering machine... and now, everyone has cell phones which fit in the palm of their hand. My PDA palm is a mini computer, too.
Meet your neighbors. They are right over there... only 5,000 miles away :) . Your grandmother couldn't do that at your age, so why don't you?
