It might be difficult for some people to imagine how we coped before the internet; given how much time we (myself included) now spend online, whether for work or for entertainment, the idea of not being connected virtually all the time is one that’s becoming increasingly alien. With opportunities to rapidly connect using wired and wireless networks from companies such as Comms Express, the main difference between life before and after the internet is arguably based around how we used to be more patient and potentially more pro-active.
It is worth remembering, though, that people before the internet weren’t frustrated as the result of not having it – – the technology on offer was normal, and only seems limited in retrospect. To this end, the internet has become a necessity that now promises the opportunity to speed up mundane processes like going to the bank and queuing in airports, but has also led to a situation where we spend a lot of our time absorbing fairly meaningless content.Before the internet, people coped by just getting on with the fact that not everything was instant, and that information wasn’t at your fingertips; people also saw nothing wrong in using dictionaries and visiting the library to do some research, or going to a travel agent’s to find a good deal on a holiday. The time saved on not being in front of a screen all day was likely used for doing the same tasks, but over longer periods of time.
We also had to make more of an effort to be sociable with people in real life, compared to the current ability to silently keep in touch through social media. Moreover, we had more of a sense of our local space, rather than being able to instantly connect with people online from around the world. Phoning people up and socialising was also more of an everyday necessity than having the option of filtering everything through the internet.
People arguably had to make more effort and be better prepared for their everyday lives before smartphones and the ability to look up and check information via email and search engines. Note taking and time-keeping were more advanced skills, in some respects; we also coped in different ways to deal with juggling commitments, and arguably took on less distracting responsibilities due to not having the sheer range of information to dip into online.
Remembering what life was like before the internet is important, and particularly now that children and teenagers are growing up with no personal experience of what it was like. Children are now able to rely on the internet for entertainment from a very young age, and in many ways lack the same freedoms of time and the need to be imaginative; while this isn’t the case for all children, our dependence on the internet for most parts of our daily lives is something that’s worth occasionally questioning.
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Author : Rosette is a tech blogger with an interest in online learning. For information on computer network technology, she recommends visiting Comms Express. She also blogs about how to source eco-friendly gadgets.
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