I first went online at home in 1997, but the prevalence of the internet certainly took hold in the '00s. So, because December's the traditional time for superfluous lists, here are 9 websites/online services that revolutionized my "online life" this past decade...
These days, I trust internet shopping a lot more than I did around the turn-of-the-millennium, but I still get a paroxysm of terror when I type my credit card details into a site that's new to me just because they have a good deal. But, I trust Amazon 100%, because I've never had a bad experience with them and I love the design. I sometimes buy stuff from them that's slightly dearer in price, just because I know I can trust the speed and efficiency.
Of course! Look where you're reading this! I didn't really "get" blogging at first, and I closed my first Blogger account after a few days treating it like an online diary. But then Web 2.0 exploded and blogs got interesting around 2006, as the designs and functionality became closer to that of decent websites. Blogger's still not as slick as the likes of Wordpress, but it's far easier to create a blog with them and the options available to you are 10x better than they were a few years ago.
I love it, but I don't use it much these days. There are two reasons for this: (1) I used it to sell everything I owned of value around 2003, so I have nothing left to sell now! (2) Owing to a silly misunderstanding with PayPal about 5 years ago, I can't open an account with them again... and eBay's tied to PayPal like prisoners in a chain-gang. But, earlier this decade, I used eBay a great deal and got some great bargains from them.
I remember when Yahoo was the dominant search-engine of the late-'90s, but Google overtook it in the '00s. So much so that "Googling" has become a verb and it's a fixture as my homepage. I've never even given upstart Bing a second thought.
Excellent resource for movie info, particularly cast/crew lists. I visit it nearly ever day, if only to peruse the celebrity birthdays. The only thing I dislike is what each film's individual page looks like. I'd prefer all the info to be there to see, but it's all hidden behind links and whatnot. The data IMDb has is exemplary, but not how it chooses to shows it.
Online Banking
I'm not going to tell you which bank I'm with, because I'm overly paranoid, but the concept of paying your bills and setting up direct debits online has revolutionized my financial lifestyle. I still like getting paper statements sent to me every month, though -- sorry, environment.I still can't quite wrap my head around it, but it's addictive. It's easy to do, you don't feel a slave to it, it's mobile, you can maybe get response from celebrity users, and it's great fun following tweets to TV shows like Big Brother.
The best way to settle any argument is to call up a Wikipedia article. The simple idea of putting a user-maintained encyclopedia was a masterstroke. Remember when researching the 'net was fairly tricky and you had to keep a mental note of many different websites to refer back to? Well, Wikipedia changed all that. Sure, because it's user-generated you can't trust it 100%, but I've personally never had reason to refute anything it says.
A very recent addition to the web, but it's quickly become the premier streaming video site. Remember when funny video clips were attached in huge e-mails and passed around offices? That still happens, thanks to most workplaces and schools blocking YouTube, but never at home. I tend to watch funny clips, film/TV trailers and interviews on YouTube, but it has something for everyone. The fact you can embed videos in your own blog/website has been an obvious bonus for me. The only downside is that the good stuff is so hidden away, so I tend to rely on links.
Intentional omissions: MySpace and Facebook (I've never seen the point in them, and both have terrible interfaces), BBC iPlayer (a great creation, but not something I use very much, and certainly not on a PC because I have Virgin's catch-up service)
How about you? Did any websites change your life in the '00s, or soak up a shocking amount of your freetime? Care to share?
