# What did people used to DO before the internet???



## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

The internet is fundamentally a series of channels of information that we spring back and forth, repairing, creating, criticising and learning from.

From practical information to entertainment....to the downright bizarre and superfluous....

So what is so addictive about it?

Okay, I am not anti-internet use. However, I feel I am yet to come to any conclusion about how it really should be used.

This is something that I have been debating about with a girl at Uni (meow rrrhhhh). She is a complete technophobe and thinks it is a bad thing for people to have information available to them all times of the day or night. Eventually she had to give a little bit when she admitted she had found it useful to get her boyfriend (back home in Germany) to review an essay of hers. They had communicated about her workpiece over email and this had been far quicker and superior to sending the piece to him by snail mail. She won't admit, however, that the net has other benefits in human interactions, insisting that in all cases it leads to social isolation.

For the most part, I believed my internet (or specifically dpselfhelp and long-distant email) addiction was a bad thing and clearly connected to my mental health issues.

I knew that people "ordinarily" had a myspace/blog/website and a photo-album. But I had no idea how many normal people were also "addicted" to one website or another.

It was only the other day when I was in a statistics workshop that, as I looked to the front of the computer room, I noticed about two or three people on facebook and another reading the news. I didn't of course get to take a survey of internet use. But it was quite apparent that some people were willing to miss the lecture they were in in order to check a few more links on Facebook (one of the girls was surfing it intermittently for the entire 3 hours). I used what opportunities there were to check emails and dpselfhelp.

My own behaviour is quite specific and in way predictable.

The one thing I do not see myself ever getting into is online gaming. It's not that I pass judgement on how people spend their time, but I know I would feel it was a waste of my time. From what I've heard it takes a lot of time-investment and commitment, even reliability in some cases. And I don't see that as being "for me" because I really come on t' net to share ideas that I cannot otherwise share in my real life...or cannot share as much as I would like.

I am sort of fascinated by the thought of thousands...even millions of people out there in the world, sitting at computers playing massive-multiplayer games or chatting at real-time speed with people they will never meet and cannot in most cases even identify.

There is something incredible about that. It is not, of course, ever going to be a substitute for everyday interaction, however, it does give people a sense of connectedness, and status in some cases.

My real question is, what did people do before the internet that they don't do now? This could be a positive or negative thing.

I myself feel the benefits are there, but that I would be better off if I limited coming on here to one day a week...if only because I don't feel half as fit as I should be.

What do people think?


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## turnIntoearth (Feb 26, 2007)

Miss_Starling said:


> The internet is fundamentally a series of channels of information that we spring back and forth, repairing, creating, criticising and learning from. From practical information to entertainment....to the downright bizarre and superfluous.
> 
> What do you think about it?


I was reminded of this quote:

"_Some kind of dialog is now going on between individual human beings and the sum total of human knowledge and...nothing can stop it._" 
?Terence McKenna

I suppose that's what I think about it, in the widest sense... Grandiose, to say the least. I don't exactly feel that I'm communing with the sum total of human knowledge every time I check the news headlines or surf YouTube. But when I really stop and consider it, most of the life that I live now has been made possible through the Internet. Our generation (those born from about 1980, onwards) had this technology at our disposal just as we were coming of age. It really represents a gigantic leap in the evolution of human consciousness, as well as a societal revolution all the way down to the most basic, mundane details of life.

There's so much more I want to say on this topic. But I'll have to jump back in later. Till then,

I think it's going to get increasingly hard to remember what people used to DO before the internet :?


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Your quote is quite interesting - I admit that, looked at in that way "you can't stop it" it is sort of _scary_. I mean, technologically we are on a curve of ever increasing steepness. And that is quite ungrounding to think about in some way.

On the positive side, it is quite amazing to think how much of an appetite we all have for information and informational interaction. That is inspiring in a good way. I genuinely feel I have something in common with people when I consider the real meaning behind things on the internet. When I go to youtube and see a link to spotty teenager called "lonelygirl" I really *feel* a sense of common humanity to be honest with you. Everywhere you look on youtube, people are either getting attention, or giving it, showing appreciation, criticising things...but overall I feel there is a lot of positivity in the fact we can share music there.

It occured to me this morning: it *does* effect my life when someone posts a link to a song on youtube. It reminds me that people take enjoyment in the things that feel personal to me, like nice songs.

So even youtube means something in a round about way. I admit I get more enjoyment from listening to the radio but that is because you just switch it on and don't have to think -- which is more relaxing.

...it still amazes me how much effort people go to on youtube though, uploading things so other people can enjoy them. People they haven't even met!


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Well i didnt have a computer until i was 21. When i was growing up in my teen's we always went out everynight and talked instead of just sitting home on msn or myspace like the teen's all seem to do now.

Im probley just jadded but the teen's growing up today seem alot more content to sit at home every night rather then go out with their friends. There was rarely a day when i stayed home when i was younger. We used to go play hockey, soccer or just sit around talking, drinking beer and smoking pot. We did anything to get out of the goddamn house now teen's seem to do everything they can to stay in the house.

I dunno the younger generation just seem's boring to me. Probley a sign im starting to get old and jadded lol.

This is not to say that the internet is not a valuable tool however. I can stay in touch with people i know from way across the country or in other countries without running up the phone bill. Plus i can look up stuff that i would otherwise have to go to a library to track down.

So the internet is not really a good or bad thing it's all in how you use it.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Miss_Starling said:


> What do you think about it?


This is just the tip of the iceberg, with the holographic technology available, the possibilities are endless. At the moment that technology is out of reach for most, but its the next step. You will not have just a monitor, you will have a room in which you can project an image of what ever you want, you could have a face to face conversation with someone and even choose the location you want to simulate. of coarse you will not be able to touch them but they will look real. However, they are working on that as well, they are mapping brain waves to isolate certain feelings, even now they have a joist stick you can hold that has 4 pads on it, it can send electrical signals to the brain that gives you the sensation that it is real. They have only simulated 4 sensations at the moment, well there might be more now because I read this in Australian science magazine a while ago. the first was sensation was feeling like a cold breeze was blowing on you, the second gives the sensation that you have just drank some red wine, sorry I can't remember the other two. Instead of down loading songs , film etc we will be down loading locations, favorite places, even simulated people.
You will still be able to download a film but you will be able to stand in the scene as if it were real. The porn industry are going to make billions out of this technology, can you imagine :shock: 
The possibilities are endless.
That will have a detrimental effect on society, you basically wont have to leave you house, I could talk to you right now as if you were sitting at my dining room table.
I could do my shopping in a simulated supermarket and just point to what I want and have it delivered etc etc Its a scary thought, yet exciting at the same time.
Like I said this technology already exists.

What affect do you think it will have on society?

Greg


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

Before I got DP/DR, I hardly ever used my computer for reasons other than movies, music, and games. I went out with friends all the time, and when I was at home I was usually practicing drums non-stop. I can't really see myself becoming addicted to a website, but I do know a lot about computers, and I actually built the one I'm using right now, haha.

There aren't very many "myspace" shut ins around here. The few there are get made fun of for being shut ins. People simply have better things to do.

I've noticed that a lot of older people seem to think that every teenager nowadays just sits around at home. This couldn't be further from the truth.


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

That is the question as well: what is addiction?....

I call my own behaviour addiction because I believe I would have a week of impulses if I decided to log-off for a bit.

To be honest, I feel the internet has improved my self-esteem in some respects and help me to realise my own interest in intellectual stuff over watching soap operas. If the net was disabled tomorrow I would immerse myself in books like I have never done in the past. I would simply need a substitute for the mental stimulation.

The stuff you wrote about, holography, sounds impossible to judge the effect of. On the one hand, porn would be popular in 3-D, but I expect it would be very frustrating! You can't fuck a hologram let's face it. Unless of course you hooked yourself up to some type of "being stroked on the back" sensory brain simulator!


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Tigersuit said:


> There aren't very many "myspace" shut ins around here. The few there are get made fun of for being shut ins. People simply have better things to do.


 Lot's of them around here mainly cause there is shag all else to do really for them. But we always found something to do supposing it was just sitting on a street corner drinking beer complaining about how goddamn boring our town was. Even that was better then sitting home.

Granted in the last few years ive become abit of a shut in myself. Mainly cause i cant stand going to the depressing bars in this town when im sober. Before i sobered up id just drink myself blind every night in some godforsaken dump then go home and pass out.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

s.


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Grab the tissues I think I'm going to cry. The musical benefits of the internet are surely going to be immense, especially when it comes to amateur composition and talent-spotting.

In fact, I think one of the best parts of the internet is being able to express oneself.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Tigersuit said:


> If it weren't for the internet, I'd be a retarded hick. The internet has given me the vast amount of musical knowledge I have today. I taught myself how to play drums using the internet. I learned more from the internet than I ever would have learned anywhere else. I was a very sheltered child, and the internet opened me up to so many things that were unknown to me before. Of course there are downsides, but I'd say the internet is more good than bad. It connects everyone on the planet within seconds.


 I was kinda the opposite growing up. I was very unsheltered and did pretty much what i wanted from the age of 12 onwards. I had alot of fun to.

But i would have never have gotten into the music and stuff im into now if it wasent for the net. I would have never have gotten into the older rare stuff such as joy division, the smith's and all the techno music. That music is really not accessable around here unless you have the internet.

Plus i have met a few online friends which is also a good thing.

So i would have to agree that although it certainly does have it's downsides the internet is overall a good thing.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

yes, being able to watch your favorite performer in your own house with a sound quality that will make what we are used to seem like a mono radio.
The system the are working on at the moment doesnt use conventional speakers, it will send out a frequencies on a carrier wave, you will feel you are in the music, and the quality will be as good as the real thing.
Very exiting.

Greg


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Like you I also had a very *unsheltered* upbringing. During my childhood I spent most of my time on the streets. As a teen, I had one best friend I would see out of school and we would do a lot of things together (providing it didn't cost anything)> one of the best times was when I was friends with a band. We would go to a pool club every week where they would sell cheap vodka to under 18s. I was 14. Funny. I got all of that out of me by the time I got to university. Absolutely no interest whatsoever in pubs or clubs unless it involves eating or a really decent chat. That's what I was actually saying _in the pub_ the other day (philosophy soc)....It's great to be able to discuss things anytime I want. I wish I could get to the bottom of that need though; I think it is the cause of my dependance on this site.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Here's loking back at you


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Wow, is that your eye? Cool. I've started a trend. Mine only looks digital because of the camera. The actual colour is green.

I heard recently that scientists have found a link between the appearance of the eye and personality traits like being neurotic. That's one of the reasons I put it up -- not just to make you paranoid!


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Yes it is , what do you think it Say's about me?
I am going to go back to my old avatar in a minute though.

Greg


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Actually don't answer that :lol:

Greg


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## turnIntoearth (Feb 26, 2007)

Miss_Starling said:


> It's great to be able to discuss things anytime I want. I wish I could get to the bottom of that need though; I think it is the cause of my dependence on this site.


I think you've just diagnosed one of the central issues here. 
Hell, that there is basically the reason I'm on this site... Discussion with like-minds... The understanding of other people.
The need for understanding?
Yes.

Everyone wants to be understood. And now, thanks to the Internet, everyone has the infinite potential to be understood. This certainly seems to be a driving factor in the course of my internet use. What sites am I addicted to? The ones where I can discuss my interests/concerns/thoughts/etc. with others who can probably relate...


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Do you feel like it rules your life turnIntoearth? I literally feel it is the driving force to share and consider thoughts. It's crazy, but I love it as well. The fluidity of the site, the fact you can influence it, and to be honest that there is a political thing going on too...I like reading the debates that go off. I'm sure it has made me a better debator because people post things one would never have thought of and you can see which arguments are more effective.

As for your eye, Greg, I think it looks sensitive.


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## turnIntoearth (Feb 26, 2007)

Miss_Starling said:


> Do you feel like it rules your life turnIntoearth?


No, I wouldn't say that. But there's been times when the answer might have been "yes". My problem is that online society has taken the place of face-to-face conversation. Outside of family, I don't really know or talk to anyone in the physical world anymore. I had friends, but they're all gone. I have acquaintances, and I can say hello to people in public, but close interpersonal relationships have somehow become foreign to me... It's unsettling and I don't like it. I'm trying to get to the bottom of _that_ one...

But to be quite honest, as far as stuff ruling my life, gardening seems to have the whole thing locked up. 
I'm addicted to horticulture 8) 
It keeps me grounded, at least.


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

That's a good thing to be addicted to


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

> What did people used to DO before the internet???


If it weren?t for the internet and computer games, I might had developed into a human being, yet while watching my ?older? brothers playing on their Commodore 64 and seeing how much of a good time they were having, and even being rejected outta the room they were playing in (I would have been 5-7 while they were 15/6 ? 17-18 ) I just ?needed? to enter such a wonderful room of fun? so I think this is were my core problem lays down, that I wanted to do what my older brothers where doing.

I?ve used computers at such a young age for pre-long periods of time, my mind never developed correctly? I were always focusing on a world of ?unreal?? seems I?m living in that world now.


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

All is not lost: you would benefit from doing an activity like canoing, climbing, horseriding or cycling.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Miss_Starling:

Yes they are interesting, I would love to try them out some time.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

[email protected] *shakes head*... to think you could be so narrow minded... guess no DP'ers are a like.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

[qu.


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)

Paintballing? It hurts though, beware. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like a good way of exercising without realising it. Have tried Quasar though, and that is really good fun. Just annoying that as an adult you have to bend down so you can't be seen! Kills the thighs. Kids are crafty opponents. The boys especially. I love it until the scores come up at the end!


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Tigersuit said:


> Darren said:
> 
> 
> > [email protected] *shakes head*... to think you could be so narrow minded... guess no DP'ers are a like.
> ...


I might be dyslexic although I can read between the lines; I give as good as I get and that?s what I insulted you because I was returning the ?favour?, I?m no nerd? I play sports, go to the gym, I?m stylish and attractive? and I don?t mind blowing my own trumpet? have you look in the mirrow lately Tigersuit? That?s more towards the 'true' definition of a nerd for you mate. I?m always ?quick to ?*return*? an insult?. Plausible reason? Lol, you really are narrow minded if you truly believe I?ve no plausible reason for my actions towards ?you? and only you.

I know the deal here Tigersuit, you love to drag a boring fight alone till you?ve won.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Paintballing was painful for the other team when i played... lol, my mates just nailed them... didn't leave much for me to play with :roll:

The only time I ?really? enjoyed it was the last game when after beating the losers once more, we fought each other? now I got loads of bruises myself and the pain was exciting!... lol


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)




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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

It?s an insult to assume one's stereo type.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

n


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

With ease.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

I


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2007)

Tigersuit said:


> I didn't realize you were so sensitive. Next time I'll censor myself, just for you, princess.
> 
> Ps. Playing sports, and being "stylish and attractive" doesn't make you any less of a nerd. In the summer I go on weekend long biking trips, and I'm definitely just as nerdy as I've always been.
> 
> Pps. Paintball rules.


Thank you prince ginger twot :wink: (I love ginger people, my brother is a ginger Ninja!)



> The Merriam-Webster definition is an "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits."


Hey I?m only going with what the quote says ?Shrugs?.

I can be socially inept around new people? but I?m not one for studying.


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

I am only answering the subject heading, I haven't read the whole thread.

I grew up with NO internet from my birth to 1999 -- around age 42? That's a long time. (Note I had a DOS Dinosaur since 1990). As noted in school and university I used a typewriter :shock: which I never want to see again in my life, had no cell phone, etc., etc.

If you see the film "Zodiac" which I highly recommend though it isn't perfect. You will see a perfectly recreated 1960s and 1970s San Francisco. I was stunned to be reminded how primitive things were then. Holy Moly!

I love the internet as the first word I typed into it was depersonalization. I had been alone that long with it. I cried when I found the original incarnation of this Board. Most important. It has given me a purpose of gathering and sharing info, build my website.

BUT, before there was all this, and before I became ISOLATED BEFORE THE INTERNET, there was far more human interaction. I didn't even watch much TV especially in high school and 6 years of Uni and 6 summers at music camp.

I was far more social, had MANY friends. People actually interacted. Reading was more important. I took dance, was in theatre, played piano, sang, made films, had a million interesting jobs.

The internet has many great purposes, many. But for those who grew up without it, and with out many of these "modern gadgets" -- I must admit I love my cellphone -- life was wonderful. And in certain ways people were "kinder and gentler" as it was a "face to face" world.

There wasn't as much sniping as is allowed anonymously. I myself wouldn't get so angry in real life myself. Let TOO much hang out, LOL.

I am worried about young people today who spend HOURS with games and TV. I do spend HOURS researching and writing. My reading has simply changed mode of getting to it, and I get a lot of it -- news, medical stuff, it's great.

But it is a sad place. If I DIDN'T have all the freakin' problems I have, I would be on this about once a week. Or simply use it for writing. I'd have a family, children, activities with them.

Well, 'nuf said. As I child/teen/younger adult/college student, I was SO active, even when I felt like shit. The biggest thing about the internet for me was finding after YEARS how much I wasn't alone with this illness. YEARS, decades.

Sadly many kids today are getting bored, obese, not reading, not socializing I think because of the net and TV.

What I wish is that the elderly would become more familiar with it. The next generation of older people will not give this a second thought. It will be good if they are isolated. Email is great. But I'd rather see social interaction than the isolation this can breed. I'm part of the isolation. But I am very aware of it. Also save the You Tube games here, etc. I don't download music, play games. I use the internet to do my website. Learned HTML (poorly), etc., LOL. And I find you guys a social network when I am too messed up to go out. And I've met some great people in person from here.

Cheers,
D


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

Short answer: we were far more social, active, children were more creative and imaginative I think (we had to "make up fun"), also I weighed 100 pounds, LOL. I'm petite, but I was SO active I didn't have to think what to eat.

More active, socially, mentally. Not to say those whose jobs are IN computers are extremely creative (HEY REV!) with graphics, communications, etc.

It's a revollution for good or bad. Inevitable. The world changes, for the good and bad.


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## CECIL (Oct 3, 2004)

Miss_Starling said:


> The one thing I do not see myself ever getting into is online gaming. It's not that I pass judgement on how people spend their time, but I know I would feel it was a waste of my time. From what I've heard it takes a lot of time-investment and commitment, even reliability in some cases.


Everything you've heard is right. Don't get into it, its bad 



> I am sort of fascinated by the thought of thousands...even millions of people out there in the world, sitting at computers playing massive-multiplayer games or chatting at real-time speed with people they will never meet and cannot in most cases even identify.


It is a very fascinating idea. What it all boils down to is that the world is gettiing smaller and smaller. What did people do before the net? They had other ways of interacting, but they couldn't reach nearly as wide an audience.

500 years ago if you wanted to go across the country it meant a few weeks ride on horse back, or walking for perhaps months. 100 years ago if you wanted to cross the globe it meant months on a ship with a real chance of dying.

Right now, if I wanted to, I could pick up the phone and call someone on the other side of the world. I could talk to them in real time or I could log onto a chat client and talk to them instantly. If I wanted to GO to the other side of the world its only a few hours by plane. People do things now that seemed impossible only a century ago yet we take it for granted every day.

The world and all its citizens are now connected in a way we've never been connected before. And the world is shrinking every day. There's so many potential advantages to this sort of connection yet we are only just starting to take the steps now


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

.


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