If you could live life without the technical advancements like the Internet as you did when you were growing up, would you?
Posted by d00derman@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 131 comments
At the snap of a Thano's finger, if you could change the world around you and go back to a life without technical advancements, would you? No Internet. You would live with less powerful computers. Video games are simple, like Pac-Man, Defender, and Joust. Your job may have to be different. There's no Uber-Eats you have to get your damn food. No Amazon, you have to go to the store. No cell phones. You'll need to be at home to receive a call. You have no idea where your loved ones are- they don't have smartphones either. No Google Maps, you have to get lost and build muscle memory to get around. Something bad happens to you, you can't record it, unless you want to carry a big ass camcorder (ala Rodney King) which you probably wouldn't be able to afford. If you're dissatisfied with the service at a restaurant, you would have to say it face-to-face or swallow your grievance and move on. No Social Media, No Opinion News outlets, no doom-scrolling, you get some of that ignorance-is-bliss feeling again, but risk not knowing what is really going on.
Would you do it?
usposeso@reddit
I have Luddite tendencies. I hate how it has become an absolute requirement to have a “smart” phone now and how most administrative tasks are now dropped on us to work through via company X’s app. And I was just reading about how apartment complexes have “smart” locks to get into the building and again to get into your apartment… fuck that. They said if the battery dies in your lock you can be locked out until a maintenance guy gets around to changing it out. It is nothing short of absurd. And how companies require employees to clock in and out via an app, submit time sheets to track work/tasks via apps, you have to navigate your benefits via app, manage your pto and scheduling via app …. It’s fucking stupid. These fucking phones are the number of the beast referee to in Revelations I swear. I hate this dystopia and everything about it.
Dangerous_Prize_4545@reddit
That is absolutely true about the locks. I was staying at the fucking Ritz-Carlton in Philly several years ago. The battery died in the door lock. They had to take the door off. It took over 30 minutes and I was late to lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in 10 years. And while I texted on my cell, I could have called the restaurant and told him. Or called his work. Using the yellow pages or my own black book.
temporalcupcake@reddit
Hard agree. I wouldn't even say this is necessarily luddite, because it's an invasion to require someone to install their bs on personal equipment. I've had jobs try and make me do that to clock in, but at least they also provided a computer with the app on it I could use instead. If they aren't paying for the device, they get no say what goes on it.
Where I get super luddite is how EVERYTHING has to be smart now. I don't need my appliances on the internet, I can choose my own microwaving duration, and please can I just flip a switch to turn my coffee maker on.
ideknem0ar@reddit
Not to mention cars nowadays. Most days I yearn for that 1983 Horizon we had growing up.
jitterfish@reddit
But heated seats, automatic windscreen wipers, power steering lol
ideknem0ar@reddit
Have never had heated seats, and I live in New England. Lol
jitterfish@reddit
I'm going to assume that means it's cold? Where I live is pretty mild, maybe a handful of frost a year. But I love having heated seats for the warmth on my back, I have mine on almost all year round. Especially after yoga mmmm.
temporalcupcake@reddit
Ugh. I still can't believe touch screen cars were ever permitted on the road, nevermind become standard. Fortunately my car is old enough to not have one (and still have a cd player.)
ideknem0ar@reddit
It was a sad day when I traded in my 2013 Civic. It was about as technologically advanced as I ever wanted to go. 😭 I love my Corolla but there are so many features I've turned off or don't even use because I've got better things to do than figure out connectivity geegaws with my older phone and classic iPod.
jitterfish@reddit
Yes I hate how so many companies want you to install xyz app. Want catch a flight, you need our app Fuck off already.
I need to send my phone away to get the screen fixed. Knowing that I will be without it for a week is putting me off. For work we have two different 2 factor ID apps for different things. I have an app for grades. It isn't so simple as just using my laptop.
Dangerous_Prize_4545@reddit
Does that include buying concert tickets in person and no more bots? I'd have to think really hard but that might tip it.
melatonia@reddit
Fuck no. I was a bipolar child in the 80s. Give me all the scientific advancements you've got.
Junior_Lavishness_96@reddit
So basically 1984 being permanent. Nah not really.
Ok-Association-2134@reddit
Yes I would make the world smaller again, simpler…. The internet for all its good has too much bad
Dvae23@reddit
Not a chance. The quick, easy and almost limitless access to information alone is something I would never give up. A bit of nostalgia is fine, but I don't want to lose perspective on how much better technology has made many aspects of everyday life. I have a little vacation coming up, and thinking back to how chaotic this used to be I probably wouldn't even want to go without GPS, phone, easy payment etc..
GypsyKaz1@reddit
And the absolute madness of booking travel before a particular web site that I may or may not have worked at replaced expensive travel agents and literally democratized travel. As I consider travel to be one of the most enriching and enlightening experiences someone can do, that's a huge win.
LivingEnd44@reddit
Adjusted for inflation, air travel was 3 or 4 times more expensive back then too.
Vegaprime@reddit
I'd snap Facebook away.
LivingEnd44@reddit
LOL no.
I don't miss the world before the internet. It was boring and inconvenient.
Nofanta@reddit
Yes. All I enjoy is less going to the store and no paper maps in long trips.
DavidMeridian@reddit
No.
Far_Objective_6345@reddit
Too bloody right I would as I'm sat here using my mobile phone at 3am I slept better with out the accessibility of the world wide web.
Icy_Marionberry1414@reddit
If I could literally go back to living life as it was in the '80s or early '90s, then yes.
A hard "no" for somehow removing tech from our current era though.
IMO, the tech, and the internet in particular, is one the few positive things about the present time.
limitless__@reddit
No. The only "advancement" I'd wave my Thanos hand over is social media. Science and technology are great, it's social media that is cancer.
lazylaser97@reddit
social media only started its dark turn when algorithms took over feeds, rather than chronology
Primary-Demand6040@reddit
100 percent. It's what we've done with the technology -- or at least some of it. Much of social media is a cesspool, and sadly, social media is the news "source" for a lot of people these days.
agentmkultra666@reddit
this. I miss “old” internet, which I actually gained a lot of benefit (and friends!) from. But not required to have it to exist in the world or at jobs, especially not be contactable 24/7 via phone in my pocket.
RCA2CE@reddit
Is Reddit social media? I think it is and I feel like participating gives me opposing view points or perspectives I wouldn’t have otherwise seen
OldGrumpyRogue@reddit
This is the only answer needed
Pug_867-5309@reddit
100% I would go back to a world without social media.
DeezNeezuts@reddit
Social media and targeted advertising
she_slithers_slyly@reddit
They are not the devil they serve. Data brokering.
OnlyGuestsMusic@reddit
Social media, echo chamber forums, and the like. Anything that can produce a rapidly expanding, misinformed hive mind.
terrafirma42@reddit
Absolutely 💯 agree!
lazylaser97@reddit
I would be so much poorer for it
just_a_knowbody@reddit
Life and IT work was way more fun when computers were magic boxes that few understood.
Northman_76@reddit
RIGHT FUCKIN NOW!!
The_Observatory_@reddit
No thanks. I could still do my job, but I’d have to go back to doing it the way they did it up until around 1990 or so. I wouldn’t mind that aspect, but I’d hate to give up easy access to the largest amount of information in the history of the world.
Hairy_Yam5354@reddit
I'm old enough to remember doing without most of these things, and I much preferred it all the old way. When I was young, you carried maps in your car, you could also buy maps in most gas stations. Also, because many gas stations were service stations, they seemed to know where everything was. You could walk into any gas station and say "hey, I'm trying to find this place," and usually they could tell you. Truckers also seemed to know where a lot of places were because often they had made deliveries nearby. You could even stop any pedestrian on the street, "hey, I"m trying to find this place," and it wasn't at all weird and most people were friendly and happy to help. I don't recall anyone ever telling me to fuck off because I asked for directions. Worst case scenario, they didn't know, then you'd ask someone else. And you actually go to talk to other people it was cool.
If service was bad at a restaurant, yes you could talk to the manager and he'd probably be pretty cool about it. Might offer you a discount or comp your meal altogether if it were that terrible. But if you weren't feeling so bold, most restaurants had a little wood box near the cash register with a sign that said "How Was Our Service?" You could fill out a little card with your name and number and what you thought about it, and leave feedback that way.
I don't feel like social media has improved our lives any.
FracturedNomad@reddit
No. You gotta remember how hard it was to find shit. You had to have other people on the lookout. Information was scarce. Word of mouth or someone's crazy uncle. Ha, I mean, it sounds fun on paper.
psychocabbage@reddit
I made my money in IT. So No. I liked not having to do anything and get paid very well for it.
I say do nothing but in reality it's because it all came naturally to me so while some might consider it work, it was just easy and fun. Everything from building systems and networks to managing corporate networks.
Ralph728@reddit
This may seem like a copout answer, but I would stop technology at 2002. My job would be much less efficient and more tedious in the 80s compared to present day. As someone else mentioned, social media has played a large part of the problem.
jitterfish@reddit
I remember a professor saying how much easier it was for him to get his PhD. He didn't have access to the vast amount of material, he went to the library and everything was in one section. I was writing my thesis at the time and thought man that would be great lol. But knowing that there are studies out there that I wouldn't find without the internet makes me glad I have it. But I admit I'm in a niche role, most people aren't looking for academic articles, the old encyclopedia would work just fine.
dementeddigital2@reddit
I work in tech, and yes, without a second thought.
Diasies_inMyHair@reddit
Yes. Hell yes. I'd have my answering machine to take messages when I'm not at home. People will actually have to make plans ahead of time and be where they are supposed to be. I'd know where my loved ones are, because they would let me know & There would be still be pay phones around for emergencies. I would still have a bunch of maps in my glove compartment, and one of the big city street map books. Cameras and tape recorders were a thing, and fairly affordable. As for restaurant service - I still tend to let the manager on duty know about exceptional service, both good and bad, before leaving the restaurant. Also, there were these things called "comment cards" that most businesses made available. I would frequent my library, and the local news stand (that carried newspapers from all over the world). As for not "Really" knowing what's going on.... even now, what gets "reported" vs. what you know when you are local to a happening.... we really know as much now as we did back then. The Powers that Be still craft a narrative rather than giving us enough of the facts for us to make up our own minds about things, pretty much the way they did back then.
Babymik9@reddit
Yes! Life was social then! You spent time with people and talked to them. All this technology does is isolate! We all know what each other is doing but we don’t really know anyone anymore! Plus, you wouldn’t miss it if it never was invented!
jitterfish@reddit
But think about the early days of the internet, we were still social. I was on message boards and in chat rooms, making friends with complete strangers (that's actually how I learned about 9/11, was a guy in Germany who told my husband via ICQ).
But also less people used the net, I was the first of my friends to get it. Once it became ubiquitous and social media took hold I think is the point where our love/hate relationship starts.
GallowBarb@reddit
Agree. So many people are saying it is great having all this information right at your fingertips. There's an argument to be made that people are less informed now than when we were 40ish years ago.
Minimum_Current7108@reddit
100% go back
Party_Broccoli_702@reddit
No way. I love the internet and technology.
mltrout715@reddit
No
OolongGeer@reddit
No. I enjoy today.
Thankfully, I continue to build new experiences and new memories.
Now, if I STOPPED that, then yes I'd be all about discussing The Big Game and prom and a pre-internet existence.
In fact, rather than a 2.3 GPA in high school, I probably would have been straight A's the whole way. I was smart, but bad at planning. The internet at my fingertips would have been AMAZING.
Apart_Reindeer_528@reddit
Only if World Book Encyclopedia was still being printed and updated!
RCA2CE@reddit
No I think me being able to access information has helped me rise out of abject poverty- the people around me weren’t going to give good advice so I learned a lot online
DisasterTraining5861@reddit
Hell no! I am so much more educated because of technology. I literally have all the information I could ever need at my fingertips. I’ve got thousands of book options in my phone. I can keep up with everyone I know regardless of time zones. And of course, the thousands of movies and tv shows I have available to me anytime. My youngest is also able to attend college online thanks to technology. I can work from home because of technology. So nope. I’m good.
RealWolfmeis@reddit
Given what it's done to society, yes.
Reachforthesky777@reddit
absolutely not. I love the convenience factor to ordering whatever I want and the level of information I have access to. I just wish that most forms of social media didn't exist and that humans were different and didn't abuse these tools.
TheAdventOfTruth@reddit
IN. A. HEARTBEAT!!!! I would do this without even thinking. Life was MUCH better without all this shit than it is now.
delusion_magnet@reddit
I guess I'm going back to the BBS days. I don't have a problem with that
Fickle_Neck_2366@reddit
Well, would we have any memory of the way the world currently is or would that disappear as well? That’s a huge caveat.
NOLAgenXer@reddit
No social media would be the one thing that I would want to go back to without. Not all of the advancements we’ve made in hundreds of fields.
brak-0666@reddit
I'd like to say yes, but it would make every aspect of my job more annoying.
No-Economics-8239@reddit
I don't understand? You don't need superpowers to not use the Internet. Just... don't use it? Smartphones and social media are a choice, not a requirement?
Why... would you want technology to regress? The negative things associated with technology aren't the fault of technology but the people creating and using it.
So, if you're really asking if I could Thantos snap people to stop being assholes, then hell yes.
drvinnie1187@reddit
With the exception of Reddit as social sites go, I’ve done it. Got out of Facebook and even though I am much lonelier, I’m feeling better because I’m not beholden to the whims of oligarchs.
vbgooroo55@reddit
Probably not. Don’t want to go back to a life without Google maps. One of the best things ever created.
Andy_the_Wrong@reddit
I’m in. Where do I sign up?
Maganda_@reddit
With the way the internet is going , and replacing people with AI , yeah I would love to go back . For example , a few weeks back , I had a problem with my Microsoft product . I reached out to Microsoft customer service , only to be directed to an AI that couldn't fix my problem .
Before the internet , all I had to do was go over to customer service and have a talk with a human staff who can actually understand my problems .
gjohill@reddit
Kind of already there. Job gives me a cell, I've actually never owned one. I use maps. I listen to CD's. My car is a 2017 but would love to have something from the mid 90's. No social media. Stream a little but really don't like it.
BarRegular2684@reddit
Nope.
I once spent a night talking with a suicidal young woman on the other side of the country. She’s alive today because twitter existed. No local support system was accessible.
When the world shut down in 2020, I could still get new books. I could order groceries. My kid could get instruction and I could earn decent money. I couldn’t have done that thirty years ago.
My mom had a stroke in 2020. My dad has early stage Alzheimer’s now. My sister still has the burden of primary care, but I can sit down and research options with her even though I live 300 miles away. I can be conferenced in on calls.
There are a lot of things about now that I dislike but I do love living in the future.
greyfish7@reddit
Ask me in another 5 years. The net is plagued with rot so deep that living without it may be if not inevitable, but preferable.
But pre say 2012 net? Totally. All the way back to Telnet and BBS? No. But I'd visit it for a nostalgia trip
SouthOrlandoFather@reddit
No!!
grahsam@reddit
Nope.
Abzstrak@reddit
fuck no
ancient proverb here "to every man is given a key, this key opens both the gates of heaven and the gates to hell."
this applies to any technological advancement... everything can be used positively or negatively.
Also, I've worked in IT/cyber my whole life, I'd be lost :)
put_simply@reddit
The Internet has made access to information easier. I wouldn't give that up just because of how its abused.
Dont like social media and all the negative aspects of rhe internet... don't use them.
Getting rid of something because it does suit you even if you. Can just avoid it sounds like way more of a Boomer approach than GenX
dundreggen@reddit
I would, if only to put the AI genie back in the bottle for a little while longer.
And I say that as someone who has played around with all the major LLM.
jeffreynya@reddit
probably not. But if i could go back as a 16 year old in the summer every year and just come back to today when done I would do that in a heartbeat.
Costalot2lookcheap@reddit
For me, personally, social media has been a godsend in finding and maintaining friends, especially since we've moved a few times. But I heavily curate mine. Blocking, friend lists, privacy, etc. For the country, no, it hasn't always been a positive because needed regulations and social responsibility haven't happened. I remember when tech folks were progressive and not oligarchs. And the public is simply not educated to properly evaluate content and avoid scams. It's not just old people sending their money to scam factories now.
As a woman, I would never give up the safety of maps and being able to call for help instantly. I can look at street view first to check it out and find parking before I go.
Others have mentioned the ease of travel and I wouldn't want to give that up either. Especially if something goes wrong.
I got my degrees before the internet and had to go to class late at night several times a week after a full day of work. Stressed and exhausted all the time. If I had been able to do some of it online, I would have been so much better off. Not to mention people with small kids at home and people who live in rural areas have so many more educational options now.
Russell_W_H@reddit
Absolutely not.
I am very sick, and not able to do much.
It's been 4 years now.
Without my phone I would almost certainly have overdone it, just from boredom, and made myself much worse. I have no idea how people managed this before smartphones.
Lucky-Volume-57@reddit
Yes!
Jordangander@reddit
All of them? NO.
Get rid of social media? Absolutely.
Glittering_Estate_72@reddit
If I had to sacrifice new tech for the magical removal of social media yes, I'd ditch it all.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
The Internet is a love/hate issue. What I would get rid of is AI. The generations behind us already can't think complexly or write coherent thoughts. Common sense is gone and a lot of it is because they didn't have to do the work or problem solve. I am sure there are plenty of people that have defied the odds but in general these are simply truths.
I just re-watched the Terminator the other day and oddly the time frame for the machines to rise is our present. Lol, it's beginning to feel like a possibility rather than a future sci-fi fantasy. Just saying.
Complete_Willow_101@reddit
It’s not the internet that’s the problem, it’s the social media. The toxicity created on social media platforms is ruining a lot of people’s hearts and minds.
Argon_Boix@reddit
It’s more than that. Google destroyed journalism via eye clicks and an ad monopoly and Amazon sunk a million small home town businesses (starting with book stores, but in large having the same negative effects on this country as Walmart.)
tehfrod@reddit
If you look at the numbers, Craigslist did more damage to local journalism than anything else.
Local papers made more from classifieds than from ads.
The worst part is that they didn't do it nefariously. They just did it by being better at it (much like big box stores did).
cCriticalMass76@reddit
💯
apost8n8@reddit
Hell No!, my whole career has been possible because of the internet. I've spent sooo much more time with my wife and kids and friends than old timey 40hr in office situations that I feel like I won the lottery.
MuttsandHuskies@reddit
That technology has developed a lot of things that keep people alive. I would never exchange it. I’m one of those people.
Rare_Area7953@reddit
That is a hard one. Yes and no. I like info at my finger tips. It would be nice to cut it all off and live simply or lighter. It could make it harder if you need information. I guess go to the library. I love online library ebooks and audio books. AI is here and a AI Robot is coming soon.
Subject_Fruit_4991@reddit
i dont know if i could have made it through the mid-yoots if it werent for the invention of polyurathane skateboard wheels
my youth was spent shredding no screen time for me, well except channells 6,10, and 12 on the tv
DetectiveObjective00@reddit
The only thing I'd like to be gone is social media. Can't stand the brain rot I see in it whenever I visit such app/site. Which is why I don't have facebook installed in any of my devices except for facebook messenger, and I don't have twitter, instagram, and the likes.
Lopsided_Antelope868@reddit
Nope. I love tech.
nibor@reddit
No. I was reading a school book about hippos to my 5 year old and at the end it suggested that the parent and child watch a video about hippos and discuss what they did. it just assumed that the kid has easy access to vidos due to the internet.
I'm 50 and this was one of those times where I get a bit of culture shock about the difference in opportunities kids today have. When I was 5 we did not have a VHS player, that came when I was about 12, I know because I remember sitting on a bus fantasising about having a VHS and the opportunity to watch all the new releases in a back of a magazine, one of which was Crocodile Dundee which dates this to around 1987. Even with a VHS then its unlikely we'd go to a video shop to get a documentary on hippos cause for cost we'd probably get a movie instead.
Today, I just go to youtube and hippo videos everwhere.
There are a lot more reasons why I'd say know but the above example is the freshest one for me.
Ennuiology@reddit
No. Advances in technology are how I can work from home and have the convenience of online shopping.
muunster7@reddit
HoneybucketDJ@reddit
Yup
ConstructionThin8695@reddit
I'd get rid of social media and 24-hour cable news. I think those things have poisoned the country. There are no shared facts or reality anymore. Any idiot can stream themselves online and spout totally unsupported nonsense, and millions will believe it.
Fatenoir@reddit
Hell No.
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
Depends. Social media maybe. Instant access to information and pics of boobies are a great advantage. I’ve gained more overall knowledge with random searching topics on the web than I ever learned in a classroom. And as for the boobies, well, it used to be a lot more effort.
Survive1014@reddit
No.
Wonderful_Pain1776@reddit
Yes please. We waste some much time on the internet, imagine what we could accomplish with that time.
Hardjaw@reddit
No, I love the technology. I love the internet. I love my modern video games.
Dhampri0@reddit
Yes
Music is so much easier to access/ take with you now. The rest of tech I wouldn't care about.
Ill-Crew-5458@reddit
Yes in a heartbeat. It worked fine.
temporalcupcake@reddit
Some yes and some no. But it also depends on: do we get our old infrastructure back? Can't do without online shopping if the malls are still gone. Can't do without streaming without video rentals.
I think, as others have said, early-mid 2000s would be great. Technology was there, but not necessary. And even social media wasn't so insidious yet, but I was able to reconnect with old friends.
Future-Ruin9770@reddit
Definitely yes on everything until you get to the work from home / hybrid point. If social media's negative impacts are reversed in this exercise, I'll accept it and go back to commuting. But if we have to keep the political and societal garbage social helped create, then nope, I'll keep the tech.
kelley5454@reddit
No. Not a chance. The internet offers a window to the world that is amazing if not abused. Things like explore.org live streams helping to educate about animals all over the world. The ability to send a friend a picture almost instantly before somewhere i go that reminds me of them. Having back ups of the pics of my family and pets in the cloud. The ability to work remotely if allowed. Etc etc. Being responsible and using it wisely as a tool makes it too valuable for me to want to go back to a time without it.
captaingrey@reddit
It sounds great but I am too comfortable. I work from home and that has turned into a huge plus for me. I don't have any friends, social life or family. I am able to watch movies from around the globe. I can go back and enjoy watching Doctor Who that got me into BBC programming. Why would I want to give that all up? Plus I can download any book I want to read. Nah, I am fine.
Life_Transformed@reddit
No, I’m addicted to virtual reality fitness games, I love the YouTube channels I follow, and the internet to research critical, like what lens to choose for my cataract surgery to go glasses free.
I’m retiring now, but I had to work independently in my job and needed the internet, which allowed me to access more information than my firm was willing to pay for.
Shot-Artichoke-4106@reddit
No way.
Travel is so much easier now - no sitting on the phone with airlines, calling around to hotels, combing through outdated guidebooks, etc. And organizing travel plans is so much easier. We used to have maps and paperwork coming out of our ears. When plans have to change, it's so much easier now - change flights, find hotel rooms, find public transit connections - all on the fly.
Online shopping is great - we can get anything we want rather than having to rely on whatever the buyers for the stores in our area chose to stock. I don't really care for shopping anyway, so the last thing I want to do is spend my time going around from store to store to find the things I want.
Even the much-maligned social media is beneficial in a lot of ways. I keep track of friends and family so much easier than I ever did before.
For work - in the past, I'd have to use a freaking slide rule, look up tables in the CRC handbook, spend gobs of time redrawing things, writing calculation packages and reports by hand. F that. Seriously. We do so much more now than we ever could before and it's amazing.
As for cell phones - in addition to being able to talk to people regardless of where I am, so I don't have to stay home if I am expecting a call, it's really important to be able to record things. Before, police brutality was much harder to prove. Now, we have the receipts. Same with ICE thugs kidnapping people off the streets - we have video evidence of their bad actions. Without cell phones, how long do you all think theses bounty hunters would be working with impunity before the public realized what was going on?
I would absolutely, positively not want to go back to the pre-internet days.
TravelerMSY@reddit
No.
MrWonderfulPoop@reddit
No way. My parents bought us an Apple II+ in 1981. It’s what got me on my path to today where I’m a Pentester/security analyst/coder and have no intention of hanging up my hat.
I could do with Thanos removing social media.
cliffdegan@reddit
You mean I'd have to go back to hiding Penthouse in the woods? No Thanks!
SV650rider@reddit
I'd like an Internet that was more focused around altruism and the greater social good. Yes, that would require some regulation either formal or cultural, but informal.
_TallOldOne_@reddit
So one or thing would have to enforce that on the internet. Which does happen in certain countries, just not ours. The question for democratic/open societies is WHO decides what that truth and altruism is?? Our government? One political party? That seems crazy. The CEO’s of tech companies? Yeah well, that’s what we have been doing.
_TallOldOne_@reddit
Your first couple sentences describe an actual moment in history to me. There was brief few year pre-internet, yet modems existed. Simple computers and basic technology were in use. We had things like usenet and BBS’s. I actually had a technology job with Altos Computers. Yeah, that was an awesome period. I’d go back to that level of tech in a heartbeat.
Embarrassed_Flan_869@reddit
Oh god no. Short of social media, the world is a much better place with the technology.
The number of lives that have been saved is staggering, like medical advancement.
DemonsNcide@reddit
Definitely! No question.
I feel the bad effects on society (limiting actual in-personal relationships, fewer social skills, less excitement in exploring new things) has outweighed the positives (having a database/wealth of knowledge on particular subjects, or "fake" interpersonal connections that seem to really not have that much legitimate value).
I'd go back to the 80s/90s in a heartbeat. Much more real experiences, that had lasting memories.
DMonkeyMind@reddit
It’s how I was raised. I could do it.
The only thing I would miss about tech. Is being able to google when those mind worms hit. It’s priceless to be able to instantly find the info that would drive you nuts otherwise. The name of something or someone, a movie, song title, hell a book title (with out having to use the card file system)
GypsyKaz1@reddit
I wouldn't change technology. I would change regulation of technology. More regulation around data governance and transparency. And certainly some kind of regulation around social media.
IWantTheLastSlice@reddit
I work in IT - previously as a web software developer and now in management. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing as I obviously make a living at it but also recognize the negativity of social media.
I know it’s a fantasy, but I wish there was some way that social media was more limited.
Why-did-i-reas-this@reddit
I would gladly take the internet pre 2000. Even 1996 internet... eBay and Amazon were around and I was using them. Could I get along without them now and shop at physical stores... absolutely and still do and prefer it.
Camcorders were pretty small (almost palm sized in 1991 and not super expensive). We used a Sony Handycam when going to Europe that year.
Games were good enough for me with Nintendo and Sega and the computer games like Red storm rising. Graphics never mattered much to me. Could go to arcade for better graphics versions.
My kids are impressed with how I get around without Google maps and remember where all their friends live. Relying on Google maps seems to mess me up sometimes because it's not clear which fork in the road to use sometimes, doesn't factor that you're in the carpool lane. Stuff like that.
I have a moral objection to uber eats and will always pick up my food. Plus it gets too cold anyway. Even back in the day I would go get my pizza instead of having it delivered.
I like the tech of software for productivity (word, excel, photoshop) and would miss that but my family had the NABU network in 1983 and that had a lot of cool stuff and games. Had email in highschool and University from 1990 onwards.
I would most like the internet without social media and have corporations limited in how much they control. Have the corners of the net like usenet and message boards and forums but not everywhere. I would also like the randomness back and less algorithms feeding me what I've already seen a million times. This way there are less chances for echo chambers and I discover new things. I used to have my home page as the Wikipedia random page. That was fun.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
100%.
SerHerman@reddit
I have treated diabetes with finger pokes and injections. I have also treated diabetes with a mobile phone based closed loop system.
10 times out of 10 I would keep the life improving tech even if it means accepting the hellhole that is 2025 social media and politics.
Big_Metal2470@reddit
Fuck no! The Internet saved my life as a gay kid in rural New Mexico and gets me hot and cold running dick as an adult
MaximumJones@reddit
Nah
Beneficial_Pickle322@reddit
I would if I had not already been spoiled by Prime, smart phones and streaming movies. If you told me an EMP was going to hit and wipe it all out tomorrow, no thanks.
JTBlakeinNYC@reddit
Yes.
archedhighbrow@reddit
I do better with what I've first learned, so I'd go back.
The_Mujujuju@reddit
The Internet was 1969. While not widespread it is literally our generation to first experience. Being born in '77 Chicago, I had access to BBS boards at 10. Surfing with AOL at 12. I literally grew up with the Internet.
millersixteenth@reddit
Newspapers and magazines with decent content, book stores, watch what's on cable or rent a video, maybe plan a night around it, specialty retail, landlines with answering machines, Haney's and Chiltons instead of Youtube.