Life before the net

Do you remember life before the internet?

As a child of the 70s and 80s, yes I remember life before the internet.

I remember going to the library a lot to find books to help me with my homework. Both my school and local library were well-stocked with encyclopaedias and textbooks, whereas today they’re full of computers instead. Encyclopaedias immediately become redundant when the internet came along. Sadly there are a lot fewer librarians too.

I used to buy a lot of magazines related to my hobbies. Some of them are still on the newsagent stands today, but the stands are a lot smaller. I quickly stopped buying them when I could find far more information on the net. Same goes for newspapers; utterly redundant now in this day and age.

I used to listen to the radio a lot, both to discover new music and to hopefully catch one of my favourite songs. Every Sunday from 4 to 7pm, I would listen to the “Top 40” music chart on BBC Radio 1 – with a blank tape in my cassette player ready to hit record the moment my favourite songs started. I barely listen to the radio now; Spotify is now my own personal radio station and only plays the songs I’ve curated (all of which are pre-2000). As a consequence, I’m no longer discovering new music – but then the snippets I’ve heard on TV and radio suggests I’m not missing much really…

One of biggest changes I’ve experienced has been what I do in my downtime. Before the internet, I would do a lot of physical hobbies; making model kits, playing my musical instruments, or read a book. Or I’d simply pass the time channel flicking on TV or even have a quick nap. Today I just reach for my phone to endlessly scroll through Reddit, Instagram or YouTube. Or read an interesting research or news article online.

There are so many ways my life (and everyone else’s) has changed since the internet arrived; too many to list in a blogpost. But was life better before it or is it better now?

The answer to both questions is yes. Kind of.

It’s both a blessing and a curse, and like all technology, it’s how we use it that determines whether it has a beneficial or detrimental effect on our lives.