Do You Remember Life Before The Internet

[Castiel233]

What did you do with your time...........how different was your life ?

[yunea]

I played lots of time-consuming computer games. Just not online. And I read books and magazines if I wanted to know something, now there's Google.

 

We got the first computer when I was 7, so my life before we had even that obviously was quite different to now.

[florduh]

I spent more time pursuing art, photography and amateur radio. I went to the library constantly.

 

Trust me, real life is better than virtual life, but picking up the laptop is just so damn easy. I at least save on driving to the library all the time!

[rjn]

Internet became a big thing when I was about 8-9, and I have had it since. There wasn't that much to do on the internet for kids 20 years ago (I mean, chatting was cool) but I've been a regular user since I was 11-12. Yes, I clearly remember a time when everything didn't revolve around cellphones, apps and social media, but computers have been around all my life, so... I don't know. 

[midniterider]

What did you do with your time...........how different was your life ?

 

Well, I spent time on AOL. Played Quake, Doom. Mech Warrior, Half Life. A little golf. Amateur Radio. That was the 90s.

 

Bulletin board systems, 300, 1200, 2400 baud modems. 8 bit video games. Television. Amateur Radio. Listening to CDs. That was the 80s.

 

Building electronic kits, listening to foreign radio broadcasts, lots of tv, Pong. Learned Morse Code, Got ham license. General nerd stuff. Bought a TRS 80 and learned BASIC. Woot! Hunted cans with .22 rifle. Read Mad Magazine. Talked on walkie talkies. Played Dungeons and Dragons. That was the 70s.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

It is a mistake to equate "time" with "life".  They are not the same in either quality or quantity.

[Margee]

I spent all my extra time at book stores and library's.  I always had a book in my hand after working and tidying up my house. I went to bed very early just to read. (and a lot of those books were christian books on how I could become closer to god, be a better wife, etc...)  The nice thing was that I got out a lot more often and would visit malls and friends on the way to and from those book stores. I am afraid that it is just too convenient (like florduh said) to sit and get hooked on reading at the computer.

 

I took back some real life this summer and bought a big camper. Got it at a great camp grounds with 2 swimming pools! It was great. Back to bike riding and walking and nature. Can't wait until next spring comes again! I loved the break from all the bad news that you cannot seem to get away from  when you are on the computer. I feel like a brand new person. It gave me some real life back again. 

 

I finally got with the times and bought a smart phone. Now at least I can keep in touch but I do not want it to take over my life....

[sdelsolray]

I use the internet for "fun" things about an hour to an hour and one-half per day.  I use the internet at work and save about one hour per day (on average) and leave work early because of it.  I still spend about the same amount of time with things I did before the internet or things that have come up since (and are not internet related).

[Blood]

I got a lot more work done. I did a great deal of research and writing that I don't do now. 

[older]

When I was a kid we played outside (gasp!), even in the rain and snow. Spent the summers at an isolated, primitive, cabin on a lake in central Maine. No phone, no TV or radio. Rowed boats, climbed on rocks, went swimming, explored the woods. Rowed across the lake to the little town library and checked out books to read after it got dark. As an adult, I was usually too tired after work to do much more than watch an hour or so of TV and then collapse into bed.

[Castiel233]

Off on a slight tangent:

 

The lady next door to my Mum is about 48 years old. Pre-internet her house was filled with people. you would go for a coffee , people just hung out. Anyway, I asked her if this was still the case, post internet and she said no, almost no visits now , apart from once a week to have a coffee with a friend after shopping. 

 

Slightly different for me, I was a visitor, constantly out to friends for a cuppa (several actually), having a laugh and generally just chilling out.......I still visit sometimes, but the number of visits has dramatically fallen, as has the number of friends.

 

So I do think the internet has changed us, socially. 

[Castiel233]

 

What did you do with your time...........how different was your life ?

 

Well, I spent time on AOL. Played Quake, Doom. Mech Warrior, Half Life. A little golf. Amateur Radio. That was the 90s.

 

Bulletin board systems, 300, 1200, 2400 baud modems. 8 bit video games. Television. Amateur Radio. Listening to CDs. That was the 80s.

 

Building electronic kits, listening to foreign radio broadcasts, lots of tv, Pong. Learned Morse Code, Got ham license. General nerd stuff. Bought a TRS 80 and learned BASIC. Woot! Hunted cans with .22 rifle. Read Mad Magazine. Talked on walkie talkies. Played Dungeons and Dragons. That was the 70s.

 

My cousin had a CB radio, back in the 80's.....I thought it was an amazing bit of kit 

[rjn]

Sounds like the Internet truly killed our social activities after all, despite all claims to the contrary. 

[Vigile]

Spent a lot more time outdoors and face to face with friends. 

[older]

I would spend my time out and about.  I liked to just drive where I had never been.

...

 

Oh, remember cruising? I was in a car club and with gas at 28 cents a gallon, we'd just pile everyone in our cars and drive. Not going anywhere; just going. Cruise the boulevard, head up into the hills, swing over toward the beach and back. I'm surprised we survived some of the dumb stuff we did with our cars. But we sure had fun. Do the high school kids even cruise today?

[TheRedneckProfessor]

^^^I remember going out with the youth group to "witness" to the cruisers. How embarrassing.

[Tsathoggua]

I am 55, so I am able to recall a few things before the advent of the internet. I have vague recollections of going outside to play with my neighborhood friends as a child. Went to school, watched television, read my books and comic books, etc.

 

I was a young adult in my twenties during the 1980s, when video stores became ubiquitous. Rented a lot of movies, and also occasionally went to the theater. Went to the mall, restaurants, comic book store, grocery store, etc. But by that time, I no longer played outside with my friends. We stayed indoors where it was safe, and discussed various things like, "Won't it be fun when the internet gets here?"

 

This phase continued on through the mid-1990s.  At this point, most of my pals had done the unthinkable, and gotten themselves married, and even spawned a newly-minted batch of mini-humans. I somehow managed to refrain from doing this. Still busy working, reading, watching videos, hanging out at the comic book store, eating out way too much, and generally having as much fun as I could.

 

Then I got online for the first time, in 1997.  And my current lifestyle began!  Things have never been the same, since!

[Vigile]

I would spend my time out and about.  I liked to just drive where I had never been. 

 

I loved doing that too. I used to just get in my car and go explore the back country outside of town. Idaho has a pretty sparse population outside the Boise area, so you don't have to drive far to be in the boondocks. Getting in the car/truck and just going exploring is one of the things I miss about America. It's not comfortable to do that around St. Petersburg as you just end up stuck in traffic somewhere whichever direction you go. Even if you get out of town, you're still stuck in traffic getting back in. 

[Vigile]

 

I would spend my time out and about.  I liked to just drive where I had never been.

...

 

Oh, remember cruising? I was in a car club and with gas at 28 cents a gallon, we'd just pile everyone in our cars and drive. Not going anywhere; just going. Cruise the boulevard, head up into the hills, swing over toward the beach and back. I'm surprised we survived some of the dumb stuff we did with our cars. But we sure had fun. Do the high school kids even cruise today?

 

 

I think they still do it in Boise. There's a "cruise" which essentially circles downtown. When we were kids, there were thousands and thousands of kids cruising or parked. Some of the guys would hold up signs "show me your tits!" and actually got lucky now and then. 

[Vigile]

^^^I remember going out with the youth group to "witness" to the cruisers. How embarrassing.

 

Did that once or twice too. It was one of those kids we witnessed to who really started me thinking though, so it backfired on me. 

[Geezer]

I remember when phone service was on a party line. Several customers shared the same line. I also remember when cars didn't have seat belts & no outside mirror on the passenger side of the car. I also remember when a cars turn signal was a white light & the dimmer switch was on the floor.

 

I also remember when computers were considered science fiction. When my dad was born the airplane had not been invented. I'd say we've come a long way with technology in a very short time.

[RogueScholar]

My first exposure to an "internet" like setup was toward the end of high school when we did some basic local area networking. During my first undergraduate experience, I learned how to use word processing but most of my research still involved traditional library crawling with microfiche for older articles. By the end of my initial college experience, the internet was more or less a thing.

 

It's actually hard to robustly conceptualise a pre internet world as marked hedonic adaptation has made it become an integral part of my life. Regarding going out and doing stuff, contemporary technology has enhanced this for me as opposed to the opposite. GPS and online trail guides have allowed me to plan and plot many outdoor adventures and wearable technology has enabled me to train knowing how much I'm climbing and it gives me an idea of effort levels. I've been able to plan multi day bikepacking trips out into the wild with the confidence that I have an idea of what to expect and can venture out into the "wilderness" better prepared.

 

I've never been more active, but that may very well be due to spending years working my way into a career that affords a decent salary and consistent time off.

[Castiel233]

Its amazing to look back at life without the internet, thanks for sharing your stories.

 

Of course everything is on tap now, I can binge out on Netflix, but 30 years ago, I had to get up in the early hours to watch an American cop show that I was addicted to. No video recorder for me back then. 

 

I still recall my cousins having a video player at home (this was in the days when Betamax was still a thing), not only did they have a video player, it also had a remote control, connected by a wire......it was the height of luxury then. My eldest cousin had a TV with a tape player included, it was like something from the Enterprise.......

 

When I got the internet we had dial up, so I could connect to the internet, but not use the phone at the same time, this would be early to mid 90's at a guess 

[older]

 

...

 

Regarding going out and doing stuff, contemporary technology has enhanced this for me as opposed to the opposite. GPS and online trail guides have allowed me to plan and plot many outdoor adventures and wearable technology has enabled me to train knowing how much I'm climbing and it gives me an idea of effort levels. I've been able to plan multi day bikepacking trips out into the wild with the confidence that I have an idea of what to expect and can venture out into the "wilderness" better prepared.

 

...

 

Be careful out there with GPS. There was a very serious search and rescue in the wilderness near here for some guys who got lost because the GPS they had failed. They could have died. GPS is fine but always back it up with a paper topo chart and a compass and the knowledge of how to use them.

[Sybaris]

What did you do with your time...........how different was your life ?

 

 

Back then you had to go to a store to get porn.

We actually made eye contact with the people we talked to.

We were rarely in the house and usually blocks away in some vacant lot, in the woods, or at the river playing, hunting, fishing, building, making out, whatever.