How the Internet adds value:

My colleagues at my day job, who remember a working life before the Internet, do not use it the same way I do. The fleeting social & convenience uses of the Internet are email, instant messaging, networking, and online shopping. The lasting uses of the Internet are what I roughly term research:

Unofficial sources: The official source of The Danish Poet, an animated Oscar-winning short, is the National Film Board. (http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=51085) On YouTube an online copy exists.

Finding lost things: An out of print book, ordered used via an Amazon affiliate for $0.75 + $6.95 shipping.

Finding new things: From a greeting card in a bookstore, I remember the link and download the catalogue of the small business: http://www.artiststowatch.com/.

Online resources: For the past few days I have had a preoccupation with literary first lines of novels. I rediscover a site in which poems can be searched by first lines: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display/indexfirstline.html

Immediacy of information: We were able to buy our Wii in-store in February because of our ability to respond quickly to a post on RedFlagDeals.  

Online services: I am a private contractor for an employer I have never met through which I provide web-based content.