I'm still primarily Web programming in Perl and JS using emacs over SSH on servers I sysadmin. Beyond that, a lot has changed:
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- The Mobile Web. I got my first mobile phone in the summer of 2000, so I've been using mobile phones pretty much the whole time. A couple years ago I started browsing the Web on my phone, which made shopping trips with my wife much more bearable. And last year I upgraded to an Android phone, and now my browsing experience is much improved and I use apps too. I get email, weather, etc. pushed to my phone.
- GPS. I remember writing down personalized directions and printing out Mapquest. Around 2001/2002 I started using MS Streets and Trips almost exclusively. Then in 2006 I got a Garmin nuvi, which I recently upgraded. Now I never think about directions beyond an address. And with the mobile Web I often look up addresses on the road.
- DVR & Hulu/iTunes. I've always been into TV, but up until 2006 I was tied to the TV schedule. Occasionally we would record to VHS, but usually we'd try to be home on certain dates and times. Now I don't even know when most of my shows air and I hardly ever watch commercials either. When my DVR messes up or when there are three shows to record at once (hah!), I watch on Hulu or buy on iTunes.
- Digital Music. I was into mp3s before 2000, but I still bought CDs up until about 2005. Now all of my CDs are in a closet--everything is in mp3s and I exclusively buy digital music.
- Streaming Music. I started streaming my CDs to speakers via an Airport around 2003. In 2007 I bought a Sonos system, which allows me to stream my stuff as well as Pandora/Radio all around my house. At that time, I started using Pandora a lot, though I'm still not quite happy with it.
- Satellite Music. We got XM maybe a year after came out, I think around 2004. We were heavily into for a while in the house, up until about 2007 when I started using Pandora a lot more through Sonos. Then I got it in a new car in 2007, and I switched to heavy car use. After the merger though my use has waned, mainly because the station I used to listen to most (Ethel 47) has since slightly diverged from my music tastes.
- Skype Video. I was using IP telephony before 2000, but I only started using Skype Video in 2008. Now I use Skype Video all the time. I call my parents regularly so they can communicate with our son. I do my Traction interviews via Skype. And I've done various business meetings through it as well.
- Server OS. I made a quick transition from RedHat to Debian to FreeBSD and I pretty much haven't looked back. I've installed a bunch of others (NetBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, Chrome OS), but the only other one I've really been using lately is Ubuntu because EC2 doesn't yet support FreeBSD.
- The Cloud. In 2000, all my stuff was local. Now, a lot is in the cloud. I switched to Gmail from Outlook in 2004. I still run my own servers, but I have EC2 backups.
- Social Networking. Needless to say, I'm on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I adopted the various social networks pretty much right when they came out.
