Can you even remember what life was like before the Internet?

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   Arthur Windermereposted 15 years ago

   Can you even remember what life was like before the Internet?
   
   So much has changed. You want directions, you google it. You want to buy something cheap, you go to eBay or craigslist. You forgot some factoid, you look on wikipedia. You want to talk to an old friend, you just look on facebook. And those are just a few everyday examples. Can you remember what things were like when we, individually and as a society, didn't have the internet? Do you sometimes miss those days?

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2. 60

   ohfudgeposted 15 years ago

   I wasnt alive back then, but I am sure it was pretty awful.

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3. 68

   relacheposted 15 years ago

   I remember those days quite readily, as the Internet didn't become something people used until after I was in graduate school.  I find I function much better than others I know when it's not available.
   
   I still don't have a mobile phone, and I don't use Facebook.

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4. 68

   Torch Harrisonposted 15 years ago

   Yep.  People used to actually talk to each other.  If you didn't know the answer to something, you asked a person.  You stopped the car and asked for directions.  Going to a library and researching a topic could take hours or days.  So things moved along much slower that today...and people tended to buy things locally, supporting their neighbors and friends.
   
   I find today, people rarely talk to each other face to face.  Everything is done electronically.  There are people so addicted to their cell phone, they literally can't put it down or pay attention to anyone when they're talking or texting.  There are people who spend all day on the Internet...never going outdoors or doing anything.  What people are missing more than anything is the gift of silence.  Even when they go outdoors, they've got the Ipod on, and inside, the TV.  I'm convinced it's made people unable to think for themselves, or even think about a thing deeply.  So much easier and lazier to see what everyone else thinks and go along.
   
   As much as I enjoy the fact that I can find information much faster, I lament the fact that I can rarely hold a face to face conversation with a person because they are so absorbed in electronica.

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   bill yonposted 14 years ago

   Yes for me Before the internet was three years ago.

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   jroesposted 14 years ago

   The farthest back I can remember I was installing AOL from a floppy disk on a computer that didn't even have a modem, just hoping that it would work.

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   eilander1542011posted 14 years ago

   The internet, along with most of our technology has served to make our world so much smaller. Yet we all have fallen farther and farther out of touch with personal interaction as a result. Neither children nor adult chooses a real life over a reality life in our country. And the internet has done much to drive that wedge. It isn't all bad, but people do not seem to be able to handle it properly.

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   dipsmiposted 13 years ago

   yes! I used to mail letters and not email them

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9. 99

   LongTimeMotherposted 13 years ago

   I don't feel old enough to say this, but here goes ...
   I remember being excited by the upgrade from my manual typewriter to an electric IBM typewriter in the 70s, and then ecstatic when I could finally afford to buy an IBM 'self correcting' golfball. It was a joy to be able to lift a typo from the page without having to retype the entire page to make it look perfect.
   
   The fax machine was one of the best inventions ever ... take it from someone who used to have to type then fold and feed the skinny telex tapes into the annoyingly tiny slot on the side of the telex machine.
   
   I remember being told that having a computer would mean I'd have a 'paperless desk', and I distinctly recall how my very first laptop in 1991 felt like a ton of bricks.
   
   I'll be honest. I would happily return to using an IBM 'Correcting Selectric II' and a fax machine. I liked those days. I rarely received junk mail, and my desk had less paper on it before it became so easy to print everything without any real effort.

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10. 68

    Sparkle Chiposted 13 years ago

    Sure I remember what life was like before the internet. I read things on paper a lot more back then!

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