I was bored earlier and I found myself hitting the ‘random’ button on Wikipedia. It came up with GeoCities and I had a flash of nostalgia for the very first website I created, at GeoCities. I can’t remember which neighborhood I was in but I do remember doing some embarrassingly basic HTML coding! My page was one long mix of low res pictures, flashy GIFs, blinking graphics and even a scrolling marquee. Cool or what! Ah, simpler times, and to think I taught web design to adults back in the day.

Now of course, it’s no good just being an HTML programmer; you have to understand CSS, php and xyz or whatever! The same thing happened to me with computers. I used to have a BBC ‘B’ computer.

BBC Model 'B'

The brilliant & classic BBC Model ‘B’ computer

I actually wrote programs for it in the fantastic BBC BASIC. When I progressed a little later to an Amiga I became a consumer of programs and not a creator. The same now with the web. Who in their right mind, unless they’re paid to, would write web sites from scratch with all the clever, fancy elements expected of modern web design? I’ve tried to teach myself all these fandangled web creation skills but they make no sense to me at all. Far easier to be the consumer than the creator!

And I’m happy to be a web consumer not a creator, leaving me time to write, blog, tweet, friend and pore over a plethora of content created by other writers, bloggers & tweeters. And to think my debut on GeoCities was what, 15 years ago? Maybe in another 15 years I’ll be in line to have my web chip implant fitted!