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Without internet, is your computer worthless?

Well, if you run out of download limit for the month, speed gets throttled down to dialup (64kbps), that's virtually no internet, although thankfully MR is a low-bandwidth site.

But like someone said above, weeks of music and days of movies and TV Shows will keep me company.
 
No, not worthless, but certainly less significant in my life.
I need it for school and for my addiction to Youtube and other random sites. :(
If I didn't have internet, I could still edit my movies and photos.
 
Waiting for the person to step in and say life without WoW is worthless.

And the though of them actually having to call people and keep them informed verbally or in person would be traumatic. As would leaving the house and seeing people.
 
While it would cut down on some obvious things (email, video chat, etc.) it would be far from worthless. My family does a lot of photo, music, and home management stuff that would be very difficult without a computer. But, I get your point. For most of us not having internet is like forgetting to wear your watch and feeling "naked" all day long.
 
conch575 said:
Pretty much useless.. There is nothing to do if you're not on the internet besides boring things, like school work or deleting useless stuff through your computer.
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Things I do that don't require internet: drafting projects in Vectorworks, 3-D modeling/animation in Cinema 4D, painting in Photoshop, and video editing in Final Cut...if you have an ounce of creativity, there is quite a bit to do. I used to be MUCH more creative and productive before I found the net. Stupid internet.
 
As a college student, I'm pretty sure my computer would become pretty worthless as a productivity tool. Almost all professors distribute slides and lecture notes online now, and I absolutely suck at note-taking so I would probably fail out of school without internet distribution of class material.

I do have a really nice lecture recorder, though, so I might be able to get by jotting down main ideas of lecture slides, using the textbook, and listening to lecture recordings.

I'd also be deprived of awesome resources like AcademicEarth and iTunesU.
 
It would just stop being a source of entertainment and be reduced to a tool.

I would say a lot of my time on the internet is a total waste though, but it's almost too convenient.
 
Melrose said:
No, far from it.

Word processing, Photoshop/Illustrator, games, blah blah would still work.
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+1. And some magazines I take in print do offer digital versions that I download. I'm often way behind in reading the magazine files, and might not miss the net for months on that score!

I still keep an encyclopedia app on my machines. Currently it's World Book 2008 because I got a family license for it. Sure, its geopolitical outlook is sanitized, but it's fine for having an atlas and a decent overview on a lot of subjects. I'm curious about lots of things but could probably settle pretty often for what World Book has to offer, if I had to do without the net.

Lots of iTunes material (and more on external drives). I would start to miss a few news-oriented podcasts. Would have to settle for the AP summary of world news on page 9 of local paper, ugh...

As far as work goes, my project designs, swatch prints, notes, fabric inventory data, crib sheets on block construction, all that stuff is in local databases or folders of related files. I could deal on the phone with vendors although I'd miss email and online transaction opportunities.

I actually make a point of trying to set aside one technology-free day or at least half-day every week. Not just doing without the net, but doing without the computer. I recommend this effort to everyone. It's a real eye-opener if you're not used to it.
 
My work is 75/25 so I would have some use. For personal stuff I'd make that 90/10. Which is why I like the iPhone so much.
 
Not worthless by any means. I can type documents, make presentations, edit and import sound and video, listen to music, edit and organize pictures, watch movies, etc.

But I would use it a LOT less. During the occasional internet failures, I pretty much use my computer as a jukebox and for editing pics.
 
Except for notetaking and photoshop, it'd be USELESS. Out of the few thousand songs I have in itunes, I like very few of them, so I depend on pandora for all my music (heard too many stories about friends of friends getting busted for illegal music, so I beat the temptation). If my parents want me to get off my bum and do some chores, all they'd have to do is pull the plug on the airport (thankfully they haven't realized that yet).

mmmm I dream of the day that there is free highspeed internet for everyone EVERYWHERE. We're gettin there.
 
Worthless, no, as I do a lot of writing and editing on my computer. Likewise, my music library would not be affected by the lack of internet. Actually, I had a computer for several years in the early 1990s before I had the internet, which only arrived in my home years later, and broadband, later still.

However, I must say that I spend a lot of time online, and not simply on MR, for research, and email, and stuff related to research. Also daily news, both print and video, as I don't watch TV. So, yes, the internet is a necessary and vital part of my daily life, and my computer would be a lot less useful if I didn't have access to it.

Cheers
 
Without the internet I could still:

Listen to my favorite music
Watch my favorite movies
Create videos and films
Record and write music
Play a few video games

There's definitely lots I use my computer for that I don't need internet for. In fact, for the work I do, I often discipline myself to not get online at all, through any means, until 3:00 pm. I don't use the internet for productivity.
 
When I was in High School, and brought my computer around with me, I would usually shut off my Airport card in order to discourage useless internet wandering.

Since I've begun college, I find my ability to delegate time to non-internet tasks has become much better, so I will often times spend much of my time on a computer offline. (I like to organize and edit my photos, rip DVDs, make music/ringtones, listen to my music, model in 3D, use my various graphical programs, play games and use the office/iwork suites)

There's plenty to do without internet, and if you really get bored, PhotoBooth is always waiting! :)
 
I would use it less. I could do some writing but I would run of ideas soon, and unless I have some tutorials or something, I pretty much do nothing..
 
Well if I'm without the internet, I usually just listen to music.

But I have about 13GB worth of movies and Call of Duty 4 for Mac so it won't be totally worthless :)
 
.Andy said:
My computer is more valuable without the internet. I get far more work done without it :).
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Double ditto on that. My book cover project would have been finished two weeks ago. Without Internet I would be much more involved in digital photography. And I'd be outside right now.

Dale
 
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