How do we use the Internet?

1. People

1.1 One needs to be alive. When person 1 wants to communicate remotely with person 2, they should know about each other that they are alive. Of course you’d like them to be alive and it’s easy to assume as much.

To check in with somebody, it’s easy to schedule an Internet talk, during which one can enable live streams from cameras.

1.2 One needs to be able to use a computer.

One needs e.g. to sleep, drink, and eat in order to feel able to do something. One is probable to pay often for food.

Using a computer is a possible activity. One may feel like doing something else: walk, play, party etc.

One can use a computer when one’s health allows it. One can make sure that their conversation partner enjoys adequate healthcare.

2. Resources

2.1 Data transfer bandwidths vary a lot from place to place.

In some places one can’t use a computer.

In other places one might connect only smaller computers through electromagnetic waves. If a connection via satellites is the only option, one might use it. Connections through cables are more reliable.

What bandwidths are available to you?

2.2 Computers

In 2020 computers were exported mainly from China and North America.

What computer are you using most of the time?

Who made it?

2.2.1 The better the computer processor, the better the computing experience.

What processor(s) is your computer using?

2.2.2 The larger the screen (up to around 30 inches), the more one can achieve with it.

Some people use more than one screen.

2.3 In order to use these devices, one also needs a long desk.

Most people sit when using a desktop computer. I recommend an ergonomic chair.

2.4 One usually shelters these things in a room.

Whether they buy housing or they subscribe for it, many people pay considerable amounts for it.

2.5 They also condition the air in their rooms, e.g. by heating it.

The International Energy Agency wrote: “Accounting for 50% of global final energy consumption in 2018, heat is the largest energy end-use and contributes 40% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. About 50% of total heat produced was used for industrial processes, another 46% was consumed in buildings for space and water heating and, to a lesser extent, for cooking, while the remainder was used in agriculture, essentially for greenhouse heating.” We might be using some 20% of energy to heat air and water. We burn fuels to produce almost 90% of this.

2.6 Electrical energy must flow into these devices.

For this most people also pay something like a monthly subscription all their lives.

These were the sources of electrical energy in 2019:

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The main source was coal. The most coal was in 2020 in the USA (248,941 Mt), Russia (162,166 Mt), Australia, China, and India. (34,375 Mt in Ukraine.)

It seems easiest to power computers in the USA. Russia is a source of materials for computers.

People get electrical energy from faster renewable sources (mainly the movement of water) in Iceland, Albania, Paraguay, Bhutan, Nepal, Lesotho, and the Central African Republic. They seem to hardly participate in making computers. One can power computers made in North America more sustainably in South America; 72% of their electrical energy comes from such sources. Asia has a lot of natural gas, with which it can power the computer it makes; 24% of their electrical energy comes from faster renewable sources.

China, the USA, India, and Russia emitted the most greenhouse gases in 2018. The air is polluted more in India and China.

To keep oneself healthy and able to communicate, one needs to manage one’s own energy and their capital, which usually includes a household. So services are a main topic: the services that you want to provide and the services that you want provided to yourself. When we discuss this topic or another, I am mindful of the fact that a lot of preparation goes into our conversations.

This is related to the fact that message statuses are useful.