Fred Aiken Writing

Daily writing prompt

Do you remember life before the internet?

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Yes, but only vaguely, and perhaps not entirely. I’m one of those millennials that grew up when the personal computer wasn’t quite yet in everyone’s household. Granted, the internet was created before I was born in 1983. But I’m fairly certain it’s use and functionality wasn’t all that user friendly until the late nineties and 2000’s with the explosion the tech companies.

So I guess I’m more so remembering a time in which the internet was around, but not yet a part of daily social interactions and life. I was more so apart of the generation that transitioned from the internet and computer tech being a kinda niche that only a small population really interacted with to suddenly there being multiple computers in every household and then in everyone’s pocket via smartphones.

A bulk of my childhood was during the 1990’s, and the internet definitely played a role in shaping culture and how we interacted with one another. But as a kid, or at least in my household, I was still restricted from using the internet, at least until I turned 15 or 16, which was about in the mid-2000’s.

I do remember people talking about the internet and its innovation the same way that a lot of analysts and money-folk are now talking about artificial intelligence. I’m sure there will always be some surface-level changes, but at the core of it, I don’t think people change all that much, despite what new, shiny tool comes out.

But from what I can recall, as the internet was starting to become more and more a part of daily life, there always seemed to be a sense of mistrust and acrimony held towards it. For example, as a student in the 2000’s, it was frowned upon to use Wikipedia or most any internet-based article as a reference in any of our papers. For good reason, though. Data collection and scraping for information was in its infancy, so often internet articles and digital encyclopedias weren’t held in as high of esteem as good ole fashioned books and print news articles. It seems a bit silly to think back on it, because there were plenty of news sources and books that printed false and/or misleading information all the time. I suppose the internet just led to the proliferation of it 1000x over.

Though at the core of the question, I don’t think I can really speak all too well to a time before the internet, since like I said, the internet has been around in some form or fashion since 1983, and I was born in the late 80’s. So, even though I might not have had a personal connection or interaction with the internet while growing up, there were certainly instances in which the internet was influencing and affecting life during that time that more than likely influenced my life.

I will say, though, that it was definitely a period in time in which people’s digital and technological literacy was far from where it is today. When teachers were tasked with introducing us to computers and how to use them, it essentially amounted to teaching us how to use computers as if they were typewriters. In essence, most of my computer science classes were basically learn how to type as quickly as possible, which isn’t necessarily a bad skillset to have, since I really can’t stand how slowly some of my older colleagues take to type out a few sentences. But it wasn’t until college that I started being able to explore the different computer languages and how to utilize them for my benefit.

In terms of the benefits to cost ratio, then I probably couldn’t really speak too much to that. I would think someone that grew up pre-1980’s would have a more definitive clarity as to what and how society changed going from no internet to internet in everything, including internet in your appliances, like fridges and microwaves. From the people that I know that came from that generation, it seems like there’s always a consensus that time before the internet and the personal computer was a lot simpler and easier of a time.

Though I guess they might also be neglecting to remember the fact that the world was on the brink of nuclear war when the two superpowers, the US and Soviets, went back and forth on the will-they-won’t-they either annihilate all of humanity or kiss and makeup for the good of the species. All of which hardly seems like it was an easier and less-stressful time in which to come of age.

I’m kinda curious as to whether or not there could have been a Cold War had there been internet back in the 60’s and 70’s when the Cold War threat of nuclear annihilation was at its peak. It’s obviously only a curious thought experiment, but I think an argument could definitely be made that the introduction of the internet in the 1980’s led to events like the Cold War going through its natural progression at a lot quicker of a pace and coming to a conclusion faster than it would have had the internet not been around.

Maybe…or maybe not. I mean, it is a theory.