Katie Achille grew up with the Internet. She was 9 when she first tapped into
it -- and quickly became an avid e-mailer, Web surfer and sender of instant
messages. But when recent computer troubles left her without regular Web access,
something unexpected happened: To her surprise, she suddenly felt free.
Go
to Google, search and scroll results, click and copy. When
students do research online these days, many educators worry, those are
often about the only steps they take. If they can avoid a trip to the
library at all, many students gladly will.
Christina Rainie had been trying to reach
her friend for three days. For some reason, he wasn't responding to her
wireless text messages, online instant messages or cell phone calls.
Not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far
away, Chip Collier was on a mission. "I really gotta stop bleeding and dying," the 24-year old said as he slouched in front of
his computer in his ninth-floor Chicago apartment. "I'm really horrible about not paying attention to my battle fatigue."
Even when he's asleep, Scott Kearnan is
hooked into the Internet. He just turns down the volume on his computer,
so he's not awakened by the "brrring" of a late-night instant
message.
