How did people spend their time pre-internet?

[KaliYoni]

I have a theory that computers and online connectivity has an energy draining mechanism to the body and mind that keeps people more lazy and "drugged" . To prove my theory, I am willing to bet if you kept a bunch of teenagers without phone lines, internet, and videogames in the house they will be much more energetic and willing to go out and do physical activity instead of being a coach potatoe.

I think it happens subconsciously , like being exposed to harmful radiation, you do not feel it but its affecting your body.



-Your dad let you play with the company's expensive computer at the time? Wow, thats a huge risk

-You could shop and plan travel from a CD-ROM app before the internet?! I never heard of that

-How was compuserve+aol different that BSS or websites? I thought it was just a portal app that listed many websites?



I think after COVID people realized they didn't have to leave the house to live so now they built a habit of working, learning, and socialising from home which is a down turn for the human social and mind well being. Even physically.



I think its simple. Older people had a lot more less expectations and a lot less going in their lives that made them less overhwlemed -> a lot less over burdened physically and mentally.
Pre-internet life:-

A guy would leave school or college and be grateful and happy to have a job, get married, and have children. Watching a movie was an experience, and eating outside was a treat.
People used to wait a whole week to catch 1 episode of a tv show.


post-internet life:-

Be a billioner before 30 (Forbes 30 under 30 ) . You have to own multiple business or become CEO. Want to watch a tv show? how about 12 years of every show produced in history streamed for $10 24/7 ? Want to catch a movie? Build your own PLEX server with every movie made in human history at a click of a button. How about videogames? Play all the games you want on Steam. Eating form resturants is the the normal with ubereats and deliveries. A dozen social apps and websites. Get exposed to world wide news happening the same minute (prior to that you had to wait for the news report at a specific time on tv or wait for the newspaper next day and even that is selected stories).

Its just too hectic and too fast for the single person to consume and manage all of this. Add in all the social events, going to the gym, having an app to manage every single aspect of your life including your house lighting system... its just too much.

I believe just like smoking awareness we should start an awareness about being less connected. I am in my path to dial down my connectivity online and I hope I succeed. People should understand that the internet is a tool, do not over do it just like desserts. Control your consumption.



-I wonder if telecom understood what BBS is and charged for them, or they just treated it as a regular phone call meaning calling a local one was free and the modems made the computer signal translations at both ends of the line

-Given that a BBS was a phone line connection, each phone line can take 1 caller, does this mean that a BBS could only have 1 user at a time unless it had multiple phone lines? It also makes me wonder why people paid money and effort to keep those ON meanwhile not gaining anything from it except as a hobby I guess. Also was dangerous if it had illegal content.

If you're interested in doing a deeper dive on this stuff (and kicking it old school, reading on paper) here are some starting points I recommend:

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

— We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she i...

www.amazon.com

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Nicholas Carr’s bestseller has become a foundational book in one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the internet’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? This 10th-anniversary edition includes a new afterword that brings the story up to date, w...

www.amazon.com

and two classics from an earlier era that may predate you...

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read , but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” - Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book pub...

www.amazon.com

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, , which called “a very impor...

www.amazon.com

 

[eyoungren]

-I wonder if telecom understood what BBS is and charged for them, or they just treated it as a regular phone call meaning calling a local one was free and the modems made the computer signal translations at both ends of the line

Well…

I just told you that the phone company treated these as voice calls. I was there. Anything that can make sound can be transmitted over a phone call and that included computer signals. And sound was treated as a voice call. Could the phone companies of the time have separated actual voice from data - sure. But that would have been a lot of expense for little gain. The community of users was not that big.

You don't get charged a special fee to send a fax do you? Same concept.

-Given that a BBS was a phone line connection, each phone line can take 1 caller, does this mean that a BBS could only have 1 user at a time unless it had multiple phone lines? It also makes me wonder why people paid money and effort to keep those ON meanwhile not gaining anything from it except as a hobby I guess. Also was dangerous if it had illegal content.

Yes. One person per line, which is why large bulletin boards had multiple lines. If it was busy you had to call back.

As to why run a BBS? Because it was fun. The whole monetizing of it came later. And when people started having to pay, they got expectations about what they were paying for and it wasn't fun anymore.

As far as 'illegal' content (warez). Yeah, there was a lot of that. But this wasn't like it is now. Someone actually had to report you.

 

[edubfromktown]

Lots of outdoor games with neighborhood kids.

Played with Hot Wheels, Sizzlers, AF/X slot cars and model trains.

Played the original Pong then Atari 5200 games

Played games on C=64

Read Microcornucopia Magazine and coded their assembler routines

 

[Huntn]

If you are old enough and remember I would like to hear your memories. I remember as far back as the early 1990s. I was thinking all forms of entertainment today is connected to the internet. I would imagine it would be very horrific to be lonely at that time period.

I know people who would go to work have something to be busy with but those who are retired, between jobs, what did they do all day long? What I remember was people almost never stayed home. Every day for them was go out and socialise day.

Read, watch TV, from about 82 on, play on your favorite console.

 

[millerj123]

I consider BBS the internet. Instead of connecting to a "server" you just connected to a guy's computer. The BBS was basically a website. Did it have live chat? Did it charge by time on phone or data transferred?

BBSs existed in the early 80s. The WWW wasn't even a thing until 1989. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_World_Wide_Web

Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system


Please, before you make "PROCLAMATIONS", try to understand.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have a theory that computers and online connectivity has an energy draining mechanism to the body and mind that keeps people more lazy and "drugged" . To prove my theory, I am willing to bet if you kept a bunch of teenagers without phone lines, internet, and videogames in the house they will be much more energetic and willing to go out and do physical activity instead of being a coach potatoe.

I think it happens subconsciously , like being exposed to harmful radiation, you do not feel it but its affecting your body.



-Your dad let you play with the company's expensive computer at the time? Wow, thats a huge risk

-You could shop and plan travel from a CD-ROM app before the internet?! I never heard of that

-How was compuserve+aol different that BSS or websites? I thought it was just a portal app that listed many websites?



I think after COVID people realized they didn't have to leave the house to live so now they built a habit of working, learning, and socialising from home which is a down turn for the human social and mind well being. Even physically.



I think its simple. Older people had a lot more less expectations and a lot less going in their lives that made them less overhwlemed -> a lot less over burdened physically and mentally.
Pre-internet life:-

A guy would leave school or college and be grateful and happy to have a job, get married, and have children. Watching a movie was an experience, and eating outside was a treat.
People used to wait a whole week to catch 1 episode of a tv show.


post-internet life:-

Be a billioner before 30 (Forbes 30 under 30 ) . You have to own multiple business or become CEO. Want to watch a tv show? how about 12 years of every show produced in history streamed for $10 24/7 ? Want to catch a movie? Build your own PLEX server with every movie made in human history at a click of a button. How about videogames? Play all the games you want on Steam. Eating form resturants is the the normal with ubereats and deliveries. A dozen social apps and websites. Get exposed to world wide news happening the same minute (prior to that you had to wait for the news report at a specific time on tv or wait for the newspaper next day and even that is selected stories).

Its just too hectic and too fast for the single person to consume and manage all of this. Add in all the social events, going to the gym, having an app to manage every single aspect of your life including your house lighting system... its just too much.

I believe just like smoking awareness we should start an awareness about being less connected. I am in my path to dial down my connectivity online and I hope I succeed. People should understand that the internet is a tool, do not over do it just like desserts. Control your consumption.



-I wonder if telecom understood what BBS is and charged for them, or they just treated it as a regular phone call meaning calling a local one was free and the modems made the computer signal translations at both ends of the line

-Given that a BBS was a phone line connection, each phone line can take 1 caller, does this mean that a BBS could only have 1 user at a time unless it had multiple phone lines? It also makes me wonder why people paid money and effort to keep those ON meanwhile not gaining anything from it except as a hobby I guess. Also was dangerous if it had illegal content.

The Post internet world you describe is very different from mine.
As I spend my working hours in front of a screen (or screens), I aim to spend as many hours away from screens in my off time. Especially in summer.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Post internet world you describe is very different from mine.
As I spend my working hours in front of a screen (or screens), I aim to spend as many hours away from screens in my off time. Especially in summer.

Agreed.

Tech and the internet are terrific servants, but poor masters, and the trick lies in ensuring that they remain servants and that you determine the circumstances in which they are to be availed of, consulted, and used in your life.

 

[eyoungren]

The Post internet world you describe is very different from mine.
As I spend my working hours in front of a screen (or screens), I aim to spend as many hours away from screens in my off time. Especially in summer.

I am the opposite.

Whether my computer, or my company's, I aim to spend as much time in front of a screen as I can possibly get.

My own setup is intended to make that as good as I can get it within my budget and I enjoy my time here.

But then, I've been in front of the screen(s) of one computer or another since I was nine (1980).

 

[pdoherty]

I consider BBS the internet. Instead of connecting to a "server" you just connected to a guy's computer. The BBS was basically a website. Did it have live chat? Did it charge by time on phone or data transferred?

Some charged but I wasn't on those. They had discussion forums (like this one) and file libraries. No live chat - you read and contributed any replies/postings, did whatever file uploads/downloads and then logged off and subsequent (or concurrent) users would see your contributions and respond accordingly. Multiple users at one time possible if the person hosting the BBS had multiple phone lines and modems.

 

[onenorth]

-Your dad let you play with the company's expensive computer at the time? Wow, thats a huge risk

Not really, the account had no privileges. It was essentially a sandbox. The worst thing I did was waste some paper on the line printer.

 

[dmr727]

Agreed.

Tech and the internet are terrific servants, but poor masters, and the trick lies in ensuring that they remain servants and that you determine the circumstances in which they are to be availed of, consulted, and used in your life.

Just got back from spending a gorgeous London day walking around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Took only my room key, ID, and a credit card (juuuust in case). No phone. It was glorious.

 

[daneoni]

Played my Gameboy/SNES, listened to my Walkman. Then played with the local kids. Fun times

 

[AJK13K]

sex, booze and rock an roll

 

[MacBH928]

If you're interested in doing a deeper dive on this stuff (and kicking it old school, reading on paper) here are some starting points I recommend:

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

— We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she i...

www.amazon.com

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Nicholas Carr’s bestseller has become a foundational book in one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the internet’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? This 10th-anniversary edition includes a new afterword that brings the story up to date, w...

www.amazon.com

and two classics from an earlier era that may predate you...

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read , but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” - Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book pub...

www.amazon.com

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, , which called “a very impor...

www.amazon.com

Thanks for the suggestions!

BBSs existed in the early 80s. The WWW wasn't even a thing until 1989. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_World_Wide_Web

Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system


Please, before you make "PROCLAMATIONS", try to understand.

The internet was made around the 1960's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

there is a difference between the internet and WWW which I believe still exists today in things like IRC chat , FTP, and E-mail.
Yes , BBS was not the "internet" and so was "usenet" , but they acted the same. You connected to another computer to gain information, just like i am connected from my computer to macrumors.com server to exchange information.

Although I am not sure how people connected to usenet back then, I will guess they dialed in like BBS. I am also not sure when exactly the internet was made public and you can connect to it as a service from home.

Yes. One person per line, which is why large bulletin boards had multiple lines. If it was busy you had to call back.

As to why run a BBS? Because it was fun. The whole monetizing of it came later. And when people started having to pay, they got expectations about what they were paying for and it wasn't fun anymore.

As far as 'illegal' content (warez). Yeah, there was a lot of that. But this wasn't like it is now. Someone actually had to report you.

I guess there were very few people dialing in then, because I imagined each board had like 100s of members

I am the opposite.

Whether my computer, or my company's, I aim to spend as much time in front of a screen as I can possibly get.

My own setup is intended to make that as good as I can get it within my budget and I enjoy my time here.

But then, I've been in front of the screen(s) of one computer or another since I was nine (1980).

View attachment 2185741

Amazing setup! looks like from the Matrix. Although the tech seems outdated, is that PowerPC even running?

is that MacOS or Linux? How about the big screen, is it a tv or yet another computer screen?

The Post internet world you describe is very different from mine.
As I spend my working hours in front of a screen (or screens), I aim to spend as many hours away from screens in my off time. Especially in summer.

you are living in a different world. Most people I see today have their eyes glued to their phones, kids to ipads, and teenagers to tv screens playing Playstation+Xbox, and others binge watching netflix.

Some charged but I wasn't on those. They had discussion forums (like this one) and file libraries. No live chat - you read and contributed any replies/postings, did whatever file uploads/downloads and then logged off and subsequent (or concurrent) users would see your contributions and respond accordingly. Multiple users at one time possible if the person hosting the BBS had multiple phone lines and modems.

My understanding is that a phone line was expensive back then and people usually had 1 phone line. I do not assume it was normal to call your phone company and ask them for 10 phone lines just for your house.

Agreed.

Tech and the internet are terrific servants, but poor masters, and the trick lies in ensuring that they remain servants and that you determine the circumstances in which they are to be availed of, consulted, and used in your life.

Indeed, and thats what society needs to understand. Stop making the tech and internet your masters and use it as a tool, not something that consumes your life.

 

[eyoungren]

Amazing setup! looks like from the Matrix. Although the tech seems outdated, is that PowerPC even running?

Yes, the tech is dated - but it works for me. My original purpose for joining MacRumors in 2011 was for support of PowerPC. I've since moved on into Intel Macs.

That's a 2009 MacPro 4,1 upgraded to a 5,1 with four large drives. The displays are two 30" Cinema Displays, two 23" Cinema Displays, one 20" Cinema display and one 55" HDTV.

And yes, that is a PowerPC Mac. A G4, 500mhz. I've got two Gigabit NIC cards installed and a PCI-SATA card. It is sharing a 6TB hard drive to my home network. A particular folder on my NAS backs up to that drive. It boots off a 250GB laptop drive and I'm running it headless (no display).

Incidentally…the 2015 MBP in the picture is my work Mac. It runs High Sierra and has half the ram my Mac Pro does.

is that MacOS or Linux? How about the big screen, is it a tv or yet another computer screen?

That is OS X Mojave.

The large screen, as I mentioned above, is a 55" HDTV. It's hooked up to an Amazon Firestick, my Mac Pro, a Thinkpad (sitting on top of the MP) and a Mac Mini (running Snow Leopard). I just use the remote to switch back and forth.

 

[mortlocli]

Just got back from spending a gorgeous London day walking around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Took only my room key, ID, and a credit card (juuuust in case). No phone. It was glorious.

..as a kid my version was:
Time at the beach (Poverty Bay, Gisborne, NZ), no keys (didn't need to lock up and the beach was with in walking distance), no credit card (yet to be invented) and carrying enough pocket money for a peanut slab and a milkshake. Wearing only a pair of togs..no shirt, carrying just a towel.

I know:
Just another primitive barbarian

 

[CPTmom2wp]

So many good memories in this thread! I think most things boiled down to the freedom to experiment with whatever we wanted to try. Of course there were piano lessons, art classes at the local school, swimming lessons, model building, card games, normal chores at home e.g., dishes, trash, pet care. But what I cherish most was the ability to leave home on my bike with my friends and spend time at the swimming pool, hanging out at the local park or at one of our houses in the basement, eating a meal with a friends family or at my house, slumber parties, babysitting for some money, spending the day at a friend's family farm, exploring new construction sites, and small paying jobs provided by parents when we would stop by their place of work. The world was full of opportunities and exploring those opportunities. We were never bored and really learned to function in the world with those broad experiences. We talked on the land line to friends, but it was only after our parents answered the phone and knew who we were talking to. Pretty much everyone in our area knew whose kids were who and what they were doing so we didn't get into any serious trouble. Even as teenagers we loved to "cruise" up and down the main drag or hang out at the local A&W Drive-In. Nearly everyone had extracurricular activities that took up non-school time during the school year whether it was sports, putting on plays, musicals, playing in the band or orchestra, debate club etc. There was only one TV in the house that got 3 channels with rabbit ears so if anyone wanted to watch a movie, it was at a certain time with the whole family. We all learned to cook, sew clothing, do yard work, do minor house repairs, and keep the ONE family car maintained. Even as a teen, the only kids that had their own cars were farm kids who had trucks.....most with rifles in the back and not locked, ever. Many of those boys would go hunting after school and sports practice. Finally, I have to say that the dominant, and much beloved technology was AM Radio and Records. Pretty much every fun thing we did included transistor radios and/or taking our personal records to parties to share. We all loved music, much as we do today, but only had access to what we purchased. As much as I love new tech, AI, etc. I have to say that our childhood was much richer and prepared us better for real life.

 

[eyoungren]

…I have to say that our childhood was much richer and prepared us better for real life.

IDK. From 12 years old to 26 years old I was rural. All my friends were 30 minutes away (by car), down the hill where the mall was.

Tech, when it got to me, made life in the sticks much richer and living in the sticks didn't much prepare me for city life.

I got out of that place in 1999 to live in a large metro city where everything (almost) is convenient. I will never return to that place or any other rural community as long as I have a say in the matter.

While I did a lot of things that you mention, I don't remember rural childhood life (outside of technology) quite as fondly as you do. A 15 minute bike ride to the store? 30-45 minutes back - UPHILL. And carrying your bag of groceries in one arm while you tried to handle the bike on gutted roads with the other.

When I got older I discovered the joys of rural government and just how corrupt and nepotistic they are. There's reasons some small communities stay small and it's because they try real hard to keep the outside world out.

 

[Rafterman]

I am the opposite.

Whether my computer, or my company's, I aim to spend as much time in front of a screen as I can possibly get.

My own setup is intended to make that as good as I can get it within my budget and I enjoy my time here.

But then, I've been in front of the screen(s) of one computer or another since I was nine (1980).

View attachment 2185741

You need more monitors

 

[Rafterman]

The internet has a Jekyll/Hyde kind of thing going.

Yes, the internet has created a world of scams, misinformation and conspiracy theories. But it also created a more knowledgable populace (if you avoid the former stuff). When I was in high school and college in the late 80s, early 90s, when I wanted to write a paper or do research, I had to go to the (gasp!) library. A huge task for a lazy butt like me. Now my kids can look up all sorts of information (hopefully accurate), just sitting on their own butts.

 

[eyoungren]

You need more monitors

And more eyes!

 

[eyoungren]

The internet has a Jekyll/Hyde kind of thing going.

When I was in high school and college in the late 80s, early 90s, when I wanted to write a paper or do research, I had to go to the (gasp!) library. A huge task for a lazy butt like me. Now my kids can look up all sorts of information (hopefully accurate), just sitting on their own butts.

Same. But the upshot here is that (at least in the case of both of my kids), they never really had any homework. Everything got done in school because internet access made that possible.

I found it very odd once they hit grade school that they had zero homework.

 

[millerj123]

Thanks for the suggestions!



The internet was made around the 1960's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

there is a difference between the internet and WWW which I believe still exists today in things like IRC chat , FTP, and E-mail.
Yes , BBS was not the "internet" and so was "usenet" , but they acted the same. You connected to another computer to gain information, just like i am connected from my computer to macrumors.com server to exchange information.

Although I am not sure how people connected to usenet back then, I will guess they dialed in like BBS. I am also not sure when exactly the internet was made public and you can connect to it as a service from home.
I guess there were very few people dialing in then, because I imagined each board had like 100s of members

Honest question: did you read either of the links I posted, particularly the one about BBS’s?

 

[Huntn]

Thanks for the suggestions!



The internet was made around the 1960's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

there is a difference between the internet and WWW which I believe still exists today in things like IRC chat , FTP, and E-mail.
Yes , BBS was not the "internet" and so was "usenet" , but they acted the same. You connected to another computer to gain information, just like i am connected from my computer to macrumors.com server to exchange information.

Although I am not sure how people connected to usenet back then, I will guess they dialed in like BBS. I am also not sure when exactly the internet was made public and you can connect to it as a service from home.





I guess there were very few people dialing in then, because I imagined each board had like 100s of members



Amazing setup! looks like from the Matrix. Although the tech seems outdated, is that PowerPC even running?

is that MacOS or Linux? How about the big screen, is it a tv or yet another computer screen?



you are living in a different world. Most people I see today have their eyes glued to their phones, kids to ipads, and teenagers to tv screens playing Playstation+Xbox, and others binge watching netflix.



My understanding is that a phone line was expensive back then and people usually had 1 phone line. I do not assume it was normal to call your phone company and ask them for 10 phone lines just for your house.


Indeed, and thats what society needs to understand. Stop making the tech and internet your masters and use it as a tool, not something that consumes your life.

My first involvement with the “internet” if that is the proper term was about 1986 when I joined Compuserve, was actually awarded my forum name there, in a CompuServe forum, and at the time it required a modem, a phone call and was charged by the minute. Working as a pilot at Northwest Airlines, we used to bid our monthly work schedule via Compuserve.

Connectivity was much less then, but what we see in the internet today is a natural development of human beings when given basically instant, convenient access to business, commercial, market place, entertainment, and many other things that interest us. We are goners!

 

[satcomer]

Lots of outdoor games with neighborhood kids.

Played with Hot Wheels, Sizzlers, AF/X slot cars and model trains.

Played the original Pong then Atari 5200 games

Played games on C=64

Read Microcornucopia Magazine and coded their assembler routines

I realized I'm old because I remember when my Dad won a company raffle for new Coleco Vision home for Christmas in 1972! Suddenly in the neighborhood my older brother seem the most poplar kids then for couple of years playing duck hut and pong as well as others connected to my parents furniture TV (we also had the light pistol)!