The Internet: Invisible Thread

“There was a time when thread was thread,” said Bernie, a seventy-two year old man. “Thread has gone global. Nobody knows what it means anymore!” Bernie was frustrated with the Internet, as were others enrolled in the course, at the senior’s center. “My mother used to sit by the hour in her rocking chair, with a needle and thread. She made all of our clothes. Beautiful to behold, they were, too.”

“Times have changed. So has the internet, Bernie,” said Mandy, his personal trainer. “Once you master the art of communication via internet threads, you will love working on your computer. You can have conversations with different people, all at the same time.”

“I carry on a conversation, with one person at a time,” Bernie argued. “Isn’t that enough?”

“You carry on one conversation with the butcher, another with your grocer, several with your buddies in the coffee shop and others with your wife and children, all within the same framework of time.”

“Not all at the same time!” replied Bernie, in a huff. “I talk to one person at a time, except when I lead our farmer’s group.”

“Internet threads are not all at exactly the same time either, but they are in the same framework of time.”

“I can have different conversations going on with invisible internet threads?”

“Yes, you can,” replied Mandy. “It’s like sending letters and waiting for replies on the Internet, with different threads of conversations running at the same time.”

“These cannot be real threads.”

“They are real, but they are electronic threads.”

“Can I start a private thread, if I want to talk to my banker?” asked Bernie, who still seemed skeptical.

“Yes, you can initiate a private thread at any time, on any topic.”

“My mother used to use invisible thread. The farmer’s group will know my banking business, if they read threads that are not private. Anyhow, I have to go home, change my threads and go do my banking.”