Life Before Google: How We Survived without the Internet!

The world prior to the internet was very different, with more in-person interactions, slower communication, and restricted access to information.

Younger generations today may find it nearly impossible to comprehend the manner in which this age, which came to an end in the late 20th century, influenced how people lived, worked, and interacted with one another.

Communication and Social Interaction

Prior to the internet, letters, landlines, and face-to-face meetings were the main ways that people communicated.

Long-distance contact frequently required mailing letters that could take days or weeks to arrive, and people had to commit friends' and family's phone numbers to memory.

Since there was no simple method to notify others of delays or make last-minute modifications, planning required meticulous cooperation.

Popular train stations, markets were the "Facebook of the time"for socialising, which frequently required actual attendance.

More time was spent outside playing with friends for hours on end, and parents would send their kids out with the expectation that they would come back when they were hungry haha.

In-person multiplayer games and family game nights were popular social events.

Entertainment and Media

There were fewer and more planned entertainment choices. There were set times for watching television, and if you missed an episode, you had to wait for a rerun.

One frequent method for building personal music collections was to record songs from the radio onto cassette tapes.

The main venues for watching films were video rentals and movie theatres, which necessitated travel and social contact.

Shopping and Services

With the exception of catalogue ordering, shopping was nearly exclusively done in actual stores.

During business hours, banking required going to a branch. There was no digital banking, no online purchasing, and no immediate access to goods and services.

Work and Productivity

Without the internet, office work was different. Because there were fewer ways to look busy, wasting time at work was more visible.

Web design, for example, was either nonexistent or had a completely different definition than many of the jobs that exist now.

Working together frequently required face-to-face meetings or phone conversations, and exchanging documents required faxes or hard copies.

Privacy and Anonymity

In some respects, life before the internet was more private. People did not post their daily activities and thoughts on the internet all the time.

There was no such thing as "trolls" in the modern sense; the term was used to describe only mythological animals.

Navigation and Travel

Physical maps, atlases, or asking for directions were necessary when travelling to unknown locations. There was no GPS or immediate access to destination evaluations and information.

This required more preparation and frequently resulted in unforeseen catastrophes or adventures.

To conclude the world before the internet was slower, more in-person, and had a distinct mix of opportunities and difficulties.

It promoted abilities like self-reliance, face-to-face communication, and memorisation, but it lacked the ease and immediate access to information that we take for granted today.

As we continue to enjoy the advantages of the internet era, it's worthwhile to think back on the distinctive features of life before to the digital revolution and explore ways to combine the greatest features of both eras.

Thank you 🙏🏿