An author. I read so many books as a kid! I always had my nose stuck in a book. I learned to read and write long before I ever started school (my mother taught me) and I couldn't get enough of reading!

All throughout jr. high and high school, I would read at least one 200-300 page book a day. And I'm talking young adult and adult novels, not picture books or kids' stories.

Then... The Internet became a thing. This advancement in technology became the new amazing thing, where all the world's knowledge was at your fingertips! No longer did I need to go to the library to pour through reference books or encyclopedias. I didn't need to sort through newspaper archives, or call research centers to order copies of scientific papers. Everything I needed was right there, in a quick Infoseek search. Or Excite. Or AskJeeves. There were a dozen random search engines before Google dominated the landscape.

Before long, I realized it had been years since I had picked up a physical book. I became obsessed with computer technology and I joined the US military under a sysadmin career, fixing and maintaining computers. I spent 20 years working in IT.

Books dropped out of favor over the years, replaced with visual media. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. all led people toward consumption of information in neat, little visual stories. I don't know anyone who actually reads books anymore, and I struggle to pick up a book myself nowadays.

The Internet ruined my dream of becoming an author. Unless you're one of the few extremely famous authors, most authors don't make much of anything writing books nowadays.

A lot of my favorite bookstores have closed down over the years, and Barnes & Noble, the last major bookstore chain in America, is half music, movies & tv shows, toys, crafts, and café now, just to keep people coming back. Their manga and comic book sections seem to be getting bigger and bigger, every time I pass through. I remember when it was just a single shelf; now it's at least an aisle or two dedicated to each.

I had a lot of unique life experiences in my time traveling the globe with the military and would love to write a sort of autobiography, but I keep fantasizing about making it into a webcomic, because I don't know anyone who would actually take the time to read a book about my life. But I also kind of suck at drawing, so there's another hurdle to overcome.

I used to think I was better off with my IT experience, as it was an extremely lucrative job to have when I started. But when I retired 20 years later, my career field in the military was already being outsourced to civilian companies and our bonuses for sticking around were long gone. Now, AI is taking over a lot of IT positions, so I can't get a callback for any IT work as a civilian.

As of 38 years old, I declared myself fully retired, since there was no work to be found for my chosen profession, and my dream profession of being an author has fallen out of fashion in the world. Fortunately, my military retirement and VA benefits cover me well enough that I can officially be retired, and I've enjoyed the quiet life for the past 3 years now. But I still wonder what my life might have been like if the Internet never took off.