Acquired taste

Ten years ago, when I was pitching to my clients about how the Internet will transform their lives, I was personally not convinced that I will end up reading news and stories from my computer screen one day. For research and gathering information maybe, but it will certainly not replace the good old newsprint.

Well, I'll have to eat up my words now because I turn to the Web for the latest news even though I still read the newspaper daily. When I'm in need of recipes, I google instead of flipping through my collection of cookbooks. These days, instead of picking up a novel when I'm bored, I click on my favourite blogs. I don't listen to music anymore, I watch music videos on YouTube instead.

Sure, I still buy magazines and books but these are reserved for reading in the toilet and in bed. You can't expect me to lug my laptop into the loo do you?

I pick restaurants based on good online reviews. Choosing from a mind-boggling array of cameras, laptops or gadgets becomes easier with online recommendations. Vacations and banking are now just a click away.

Some blogs can be quite influential too. I rushed out to buy my first box of Alphonso Mangoes after someone raved about it. Then yesterday, I cooked petai beans (stinky beans) for the first time after reading about it in the same blog. Needless to say, nobody at home ate the awful beans except me.

It's an acquired taste you see. I had to eat the whole lot up because I was the one who read the blog, not them.