In this high-bandwidth, downloadable and interactive world, technology is changing faster than we can learn to use it.
And while some of us worry that we may be trading human interaction for email and Facebook, it's hard to deny the irresistible convenience these modes of communication provide.
One look at the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island shows why — and because of technology you can take that look from anywhere in the world.
Thanks to Google Earth, Google's free downloadable software that interacts with the company's massive databanks of online mapping information, Nanaimo can be observed more closely and with more layers of information than any other city in the world.
By just looking with the aerial photos the city has given to the search giant it's possible to see what kind of cars people are driving. But that's old news; many cities have that.
Over the last 20 years Nanaimo has been digitizing city information, from where every sewer pipe lies to how high the tallest hotel is. Now it is putting that information online via Google and it can all be pinpointed with the click of a mouse.
With Google Earth, that information turns into 3D buildings and virtual tours. When an ambulance speeds by in Nanaimo, residents don't need to run to their window to see where it is going; they can hop on the computer and get a visual image of the location.
That's because each dispatch is instantly posted to the Internet through the same kind of RSS feed that lets web-savvy surfers find out the minute their favourite newspaper posts a new article.
Users can't see real-time images of what is happening, but a little blue section on the map tells them where that fire truck or ambulance went to moments ago.
If developers want to build a light industrial park close to existing water and sewer lines near a deep sea port and be sure they have the proper zoning, they don't need to make multiple trips to city hall — they can just Google it.
Per Kristensen, Nanaimo's chief technology officer, said the city isn't spending a fortune to become the leader in Google-ability, just using the tools already available.
"It's nothing new or unique. We're just building on it."
To that end the city has provided Google with over 200 layers of information. An upcoming addition will add every grave plot in the city cemetery. Genealogists will be able to track the family tree right to a family member's final resting place, and visit it via high-resolution aerial photograph.
"It was relatively easy and simple to do," said Kristensen of the city's online expedition. "The technology tools these days allow us to do some really neat stuff without a whole lot of work."
Kristensen said it's all about making information more easily accessible to the public and that they wouldn't do it if it didn't help local residents. They also hope to attract a few more tourists.
Across the country in Montreal, another company is also aiming to make information more accessible but in a completely different way.
It's called eFairJob, a virtual job fair running from March 17-28 that brings employees and employers together in a video game-like atmosphere.
The concept promises job seekers an entirely new way to interact with employers. Users scan a virtual room that looks like most other real-world job fairs. They find the booth of an employer they're interested in and "walk" over by clicking on the booth. Then they can chat with a company representative and give them the resume they uploaded when they signed onto the site. They can also get a Google map of the company's location.
While Googling Nanaimo and visiting a virtual job fair are vastly different experiences, both are about communicating information. Nanaimo's Google initiative lets users communicate with the city to get information they once had to request in person. The virtual job fair lets users communicate with potential employers from the comfort of their home computer.
Mary Sanseverino, a computer science professor at the University of Victoria said the technologies that bubble to the top are the ones that extend how people can communicate.
"That's what people want to do with technology," she said.
Sanseverino points to websites like YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and Facebook as examples. She said that when new technology allows us to communicate better, it is quickly adopted, citing Facebook's rapid rise to challenge MySpace, the reigning king of social networking websites, as a prime example.
Each new technology expands communication, allowing lay computer users to do what only tech wizards could do in the past. Like uploading photos with tagged descriptions and sharing them online. Or making a personalized website complete with a video diary and pictures from a dinner party the night before.
"People are doing things in all of these technologies that five years ago would have been very difficult to do."
The downside is that people become tied to computers. Sanseverino quotes comedian Ron James, who describes it as "sucking at the Mac internet-enabled teat."
"We're really tethered to our technology, even though the technology is mobile," said Sanseverino adding that the result can be seen when she goes for a hike and finds other hikers typing away on their blackberries.
"Is that really a great thing? Maybe in some things it's excellent, but maybe in other cases it's too tethered."
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