You can still hear that dial-up sound in your nightmares. You’d barely managed to connect when you had to get off it again because someone wanted to use the house phone. Annoying.
The early days of the internet were taxing at times, but the dawn of this exciting world wide web transformed our lives in more ways than we could ever have possibly imagined. Cast your mind back to those dark days when you couldn’t even Ask Jeeves to book you flights.
Here’s a look at life before and after the internet.
1. Keeping in touch when you’re away
Before the internet: An afternoon of every trip abroad was dedicated to sitting down to write a massive stack of carefully-chosen postcards. Holiday annecdotes were scribbled in tiny writing to fit onto the card, and another hour of precious sun time was devoted to finding the local post office. And buying stamps. Nobody at home knew if you were dead or alive until they received these few lines a week later.
After the internet: You check into the airport on Facebook before Instagramming your holiday OOTD and tweeting a shot of your boarding pass with your passport. You WhatsApp when you’re through security, just before you take off and again as soon as you land.
2. Family arguments
Before the internet: Whether you were arguing about who scored the first point in the second half of the All Ireland, or which actor starred in an obscure 80s movie, a good old-fashioned sibling fight could go on for days and days without any resolution. Sides were taken, doors banged and newspapers bought to figure who the hell did score during the match.
Post Internet: Far less prolonged, but much more harsh affairs. Every factual disagreement, no matter how outragious, is settled in seconds. The person found out as wrong is put in their box with the swipe of a screen, and is left to sulk about being such a fool in front of the entire family.
3. Wasting time on your phone
Pre-internet: Before you were crushing candy and having fun with angry birds, you spent hours and hours playing snake. And it was awesome.
Post-internet: Endless hours of the day are spent scrolling through pictures, timelines and Instagram feeds. You will never be bored again.
4. Dating
Pre-internet: Waiting to see if the guy you met on Saturday night would call the house phone. Would he call? Was he still in the country? You had absolutely no idea. And no way of finding out.
Post-internet: Swipe, ignore, block, repeat.
5. Losing your phone:
Pre-internet: Impossible. Sure it was attached to the wall.
Post-internet: You’ve lost at least three phones. And at least twice you’ve no idea how. It’s just part of life.
6. Listening to music
Before the internet: You woke up half an hour earlier than you needed to in the morning to try and catch your favourite song on the radio so you could record it on a tape. And then rewind it over and over so you could listen to it again and again.
After the internet: Access to every single song under the sun at the tap of a button. Incredible.
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