Life Before the Internet

Remember the dark ages?  Back before we carried the internet around in our pockets, when we had to answer the phone, pay for music and wait for information?  It was a very different world my friends.

If you wanted a restaurant reservation you called.  If you were planning a vacation, you consulted a travel agent.  If you wanted to send mail, you needed an envelope and a stamp. 

We got our news from television and newspapers.  And we couldn’t get updates 24 hours a day, either. You had to tune in at a specific time, which is where the phrase “film at 11” came from.  Newspapers were also the source for movie times, advice, local events, restaurant reviews, stock market information, weather reports and job searches.

You had to watch TV shows when they aired, and if you missed something, you would wait for summer reruns to catch up. Eventually we had VCRs, so we could record shows in our absence.  But if you forgot, or accidentally taped over your show, you were out of luck.

Friends hung out together, in the same location.  And talked.  Out loud.

We took little canisters of film to the drugstore to get pictures developed.  For a premium they could be developed in an hour, but usually we waited a week or so to see if any of the pictures were cute.  The only people who ever saw these pictures were friends who flipped through our photo albums.

We went for walks without ever catching a single Pokemon.  If you wanted to listen to music on these walks, you needed a Walkman and a cassette tape.  And speaking of cassette tapes, cars had players in them, and we kept a shoebox full of tapes in the car.  Come summer, you’d inevitably forget the tapes, and they would melt.

Phones had cords that plugged into walls. If we needed to make a call when we weren’t at home, we used a payphone, and they were easy to find.  If your car broke down, you hoped someone stopped to help or you walked to the nearest payphone.  Calling long distance cost more than calling locally. 

Courtship, gossip, and bullying all took place face-to-face.   

If your parents weren’t able to invest in an encyclopedia, you had to go to the library for information.  We had a set at my house, but they were about 30 years old, and the airplanes all had propellers.

We watched movies in a theater.  Which was also the only way to see trailers for upcoming movies. 

To diagnose an ailment, you consulted a doctor, in person.

We learned penmanship in school, because writing things down was relevant. 

Scandals could take months to unfold, and were easy to bury. 

We shopped in stores.  We tried on clothes before we bought them, perused song lists on the back of albums, flipped through books to see if they appealed.  If you wanted to buy something that you couldn’t get from a local source, you browsed a catalog then called or filled out an order form, which you would mail to the company along with a check, then wait 6-8 weeks for your order to arrive.  We also had door-to-door salesmen and Avon Ladies.

Pictures were proof.

Amazon was a river. 

Links were part of a chain.

Webs were made by spiders and surfing was done in the ocean.

We used maps made out of paper.  They were huge and came folded into small rectangles, which were comically hard to put back together.

We found out about new fashions from magazines. 

Being famous meant you had accomplished something noteworthy.

Clouds were for shade and precipitation.

Every household had a dictionary and a phone book.

We were never contacted by Nigerian princes with millions of dollars they were anxious to share with us.

You needed, at the very least, a pole, a line and a hook to go fishing.  

You got recipes from friends and relatives, cookbooks, and newspapers.

Being out of touch wasn’t cause for panic.  If you missed a call that was important, they’d call back.

Lest you think this is an homage to the good old days, let me assure you that it is not.  I love the information highway.  I love that at 3:00 in the morning, I can buy a new lipstick, or read about the latest political monkeyshines, or watch a skateboarding dog (and in case you haven’t seen the skateboarding dog but would like to, his name is Eric, and Google can show you the way).  I love being able to get answers to obscure questions any time they bounce across my brain.  I love that the internet lets me hunt down and acquire products that I can’t find locally.  I love reconnecting with old friends.  I love learning about places and people I would never otherwise have access to.

While it’s true that the internet is the great distractor, an unparalleled way to waste time, and an uncensored, un-monitored source of questionable information, the upside far outweighs the down.  It’s changed business, relationships, politics, and well, just about everything.  Thus is the nature of progress.  I’m lucky that I had the opportunity to experience both sides