I'm writing this while moving at 60 miles an hour. The gentleman next to me is watching Netflix and the lady to my left is reading news online. I'm traveling from Philadelphia back to New York via bus and I'm able to do some quick research on the Internet at the same time that I'm streaming music via Spotify. I can't remember the exact date it was the last time I was taking this same route, but I do recall that the only form of entertainment we had was the on-bus movie being played from a DVD -- not even in HD quality. It's amazing the progress of technology we've been able to experience within the last few years.
I've mentioned previously of the human-disconnect that we seem to have because of our addiction to the Internet. While I am still adamant that real human interaction is suffering because some people are living too digital of a life, I also do believe that there is value to the advancement of technology and the ever-increasing digital connections that we now have. The greatest value we have now is the amount of information and resources so readily available for distribution on the Internet.
The human race is a treasure trove of knowledge. Great cities were created around centers of learning and culture. Follow the rise and fall of great nations and you will find that while war was the catalyst for change, knowledge and learning was what drove civilizations to greatness. Little has changed in this aspect over the last hundred years, but it will soon. Technology will take us a step further as we move beyond cities and into a global village of knowledge sharing and a generation of unprecedented learning.
Universities such as MIT and Harvard now offer courses entirely online. High quality education is now available to people from all over the world with the click of a button. Non-traditional teaching centers have came about so that thought-leaders can come together to share their expertise in subject matters ranging from technology and marketing to medicine and science. This is quite an amazing time in the history of humanity.
We're living in the age of information. We've come a long way from the time of dial-up connections. Now we have greater, and faster, access to the web -- even from our mobile devices. As access to the Internet improves, we'll see a huge growth in the rate at which information is being shared. Never before in history are we able to share information the way we do now. And this is only the beginning!
The rate at which information is being created is staggering. It will take lifetimes to watch every video on YouTube alone. Coupled with various other media platforms, we have an amazing array of information that we all have access to. This access to information will help bring our world to a new and unique opportunity to share and innovate. It's going to be an exciting time in our lives.