A world without the Internet? Imagine this…
Posted by Martin | Tagged as: Chat
Someone asked on a forum what the world would be like without the Internet.
A world without the Internet huh?
That would be when we went to a library for our info products (only we called them books and the only ones who ever said ebooks were elderly Yorkshiremen).
That would be when social networking meant going out to the local youth club. Or, Heaven forbid, becoming a Boy Scout or Girl Guide.
That would be when a facebook had black pages and the ‘faces’ were stuck in with little paper corners.
That would be when a forum was a place for debate and usually involved cold beer and tipsy girlfriends.
That would be when calling someone a blogger would get you a black eye.
That would when watching a monitor involved staring at the school prefect.
That would be when the most advanced keyboard was attached to a Moog.
That would be when a floppy disc would give you a bad back.
That would be when a payment processor was made of brass, had keys with the denominations and a drawer that went ‘ting’.
That would be when the superhighway was the M1 in the UK or Route 66 in the US.
That would be when CD meant you didn’t have to pay your fines.
That would be when the only time you needed a RAM was when you had a few ewes to be covered.
That would be when a bit was more than you could chew or a byte would need a visit to the dentist.
That would be when Amazon was a river and Google was a misspelled number.
That would be when traffic stopped you getting home for dinner.
That would be when hacking meant you had a nasty cough.
That would be when ‘CB’ would be followed by ‘Ten-four, breaker-breaker, good buddy.’
That would be when file sharing involved manilla cardboard.
That would be when a chat room was thick with cigarette smoke and spilled beer.
That would be when the only place you’d find virtual real estate was on a Monopoly board.
That would be when the only autoresponder in the world was called Kit.
That would be when good hosting meant happy guests.
That would be when second life was what we all prayed for on Sundays.
That would be when Go Daddy involved an egg and a spoon.
That would be when a hard drive was accompanied by ‘are we nearly there yet?’
That would be when being digital meant you could count on your fingers.
That would be when banner ad was a big flag you waved at a football match.
That would be when your bookmarks were made by your kids as school projects.
That would be when one cookie was never enough.
That would be when cross browser support was a patient salesperson in the bookstore.
That would be when going to a flash site got you locked up.
That would be when showing someone your holiday pictures involved a darkened room and a Kodak Carousel.
That would be when an impression was something you made.
That would be when My Space was something you didn’t enter.
That would be when spam was a Sunday treat.
That would be when peer-to-peer networking happened at the water cooler.
That would be when the world was a simpler place; when we didn’t have friends all over the world; when our differences were more frightening; when our horizons were limited; when our imaginations were fuelled by HG Wells or Gene Roddenberry.
That would be when almost everything we take for granted today about technology, the Internet and computers was at best an impossible dream and worst simply thoughts of magic.
That would be the days of our parents – or for some of us, our youth.
And thinking back, it wasn’t so long ago was it.
I wonder what the days of our children will bring.
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Great piece, Martin. Reminds me of a Phil Gosling speach, at the end of one of his seminars – Thanks!
Hi Martin,
Looking over your list and what struck me was the ending – “That would be when the world was a simpler place; when we didn’t have friends all over the world; when our differences were more frightening; when our horizons were limited; when our imaginations were fuelled by HG Wells or Gene Roddenberry.”
The world wasn’t simpler, it was simply we gave more thought about character, values and our place in the world. Some of us had real friends all over the world, not just blips on a screen that disguised the people behind the words who may or may not be who they say they are.
Our differences didn’t frighten us as much as our similarities made us feel safe. Our imaginations were jumpstarted by HG Wells and Gene Roddenberry to create things we couldn’t see, imagine the impossible becoming possible.
Thought provoking post.
Nice post Martin – I really like it. It had me smiling and remembering.
Sometimes our kids seem to speak a different language. I know my 13 year old can talk and I only understand about 1 word in 5 half the time!
The Internet is a great tool but too many people get tied up in it and forget the offline world. We’ve bee introducing our kids to the library and are starting to get the elder two reading books (gasp). They think reading a book a month is good … I used to go through ten a week at their age!
They complain that there’s nothing on the 600+ channels on TV they want to watch and then look disbelieving when we tell them we only used to have 3 channels and kids TV was an hour an a half after school and that was it!
They can’t comprehend that we used to get up to change TV channels and that their mobile phones have more computing power than computers that used to take up acres of floor space.
I can remember that days when I used to talk to my friends. I’d walk over, knock on their door and we’d talk. Now talking to a friend involves text messaging, IM’ing or something on a Wii or PS3!
When you put it that way – things have changed a lot and perhaps not all for the better.
It’s a great post Martin and really made me think about how things have changed with the Internet revolution.
All the best to you
Jason
Great post Martin.
My Dad was involved with cutting edge computer stuff in the 70s and 80s and had a car phone long before anyone else we knew (and note I said ‘car’ phone, not mobile); He died 21 years ago never having known most of the things you’ve mentioned! It’s my yard stick of how quickly technology has changed over the last 20 years.
Thanks for sharing.
If it’s a world without internet, maybe they’re sending their comments by snail mail.
Good article.
Jake
Martin,
As a fellow of, either, late-middle-age or early-old-age I semi-vividly remember all your pre-internet observations.
While it’s fun to recall the past I don’t wish to go back.
In the past I had too many years of “hard drives”.
Some of the things projected in our youth still have to come to pass. By now we’re supposed to be on automated roadways or operating our own flying cars.
As amazed as I am over what amazes me I’m sure many more amazing things are yet to come.
And, like many of us “geezerly types”, I’ll be even more amazed.
I greatly enjoyed the retrospective,
Elmer