To feel like I wouldn’t be that bothered if the internet disappeared?

I would like to try that ‘back in time’ programme but for a whole town for a year. The only thing is that I’d want a comfy sofa, but I wouldn’t miss the internet.

It would be an absolute nightmare but it's gone too far. We didn't need to make life completely impossible without the internet. We have kids who have probably never seen a £10 note because they use their phones to pay for everything. None of that was actually necessary.

Anyone that thinks cash should be dispensed with in favour of everything monetary being online deserves everything they get.

After giving it some thought I think it would be worth getting rid of the internet to piss off Elon Musk/Tech Oligarchs and the crypto bros.

Hey?

It’s a part of life that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people would die if the internet disappeared?

Surely this is the only positive outcome of Russian attack though - it is likely to be on something we all use and need, so internet cables being eyed up in the sea etc...it might happen. I would be amazed if banks had zero backup system as a just in case. Of course, applying common sense to giant organisations with all the money is usually a mistake, so I am probably wrong.

No internet would give the “Fax” industry a boost (if it still exists). My job whilst still possible would be a lot more difficult and paper intensive. Would we still have “intranet” systems. If I didn’t have access to GIS I would need acres of plans. Banking would be a nightmare till they increased the number of branches.

Thank you. A really privileged mindset

As someone who is disabled and housebound, losing the internet would completely destroy what little quality of life I have and take away my remaining independence. And anyone who is socially isolated in their local area but has found their people online would not see their mental health improving

You would. Living without the net would be so much hassle - for everything. Even if you don’t need SM, it’s still necessary.

No, I rarely pick up my phone and don't use it for the Internet. I use a laptop instead. I far prefer actually talking to people but since I'm housebound the Internet has enabled me to interact with lots of folk online, some in communities I've been part of for decades.

Millions of lives have been saved by the ability to share medical progress and information. Thousands of hours are saved with online shopping allowing people to spend more time with family. Global social media allows families to stay connected in different regions and countries. The ability to gain masses of information through the internet for free without having to buy books or encyclopedias has given social classes more opportunities to be more equal and therefore given rise to the middle class in the past 30 years more then ever before. I could go on with the amount of positive contributions the Internet has made to society, yet people still like to think life is better without the Internet 🤣🤣 instead of moaning, maybe people could start thinking of solutions to modern day problems instead of sitting around fantasising we were all better off without modern conveniences and opportunities.

Yes, caves and whatnot, but with dental anaesthetics. And tea is miserable without milk, so some cows in a field would be nice too.

Probably years, but in the meantime, people would die, businesses would collapse, etc. You can't put manual systems back in place to replace everything that's done via the internet overnight. Staff would need to be recruited and trained, and to do that, you need to reinstate manual recruitment and recruit people to train the huge numbers of extra staff needed. That's before you actually start to use the new staff to replicate systems manually.

Just look at the dire effects of covid and the suez canal blockage.

The genie can't be put back into the bottle.

Look at the harm caused to the co op supermarkets due to last year's hacking. Shelves were empty for weeks. They didn't have the systems to go and buy stock manually from, say, wholesalers, as accounts take time to set up, systems to determine what stocks to buy need time to be created manually, manual tills would have needed to be sourced. It was cheaper/quicker for them to accept a massive hit on sales for a few weeks pending the computer systems being restored than to go out and re-create manual systems.

I'm not sure who "we" is. Some people managed fine, but what about those in rural areas, those with disabilities, those in abusive relationships, the elderly, and others who are isolated for various reasons?

We had shops before supermarkets and the internet

We had horse and cart before cars

How far back do you think we should go?

Should we go back to living in caves and hunting wild animals??

I am on a lot of forums (including this one).
I talk online.
Like right now.... I am having a conversation.
Just because you might see people on the bus/train/wherever glued to their phones it doesn't mean they aren't having a conversation with several people at the same time.

Yes, exactly.

It's part of life.

Wouldn't bother me. It would be nice to see people actually talking than ignoring people for their phones.

I think you are right, unfortunately. What has been created is a single point of failure. It's incredibly worrying that without one tool, our systems would collapse.
I saw a fascinating documentary recently about hacking. A local council had their system hacked into and it caused absolute chaos. All records had been computerised and were held in online storage. Payments couldn't be received or made, personal details were compromised. It took two YEARS to fully restore the systems. It was believed to have been a Russian group using the Council as a test bed for a much bigger target.
Yes, lessons were learned about security, but hackers also learn.

It's worrying how dependent we are on it for our everyday lives. I have worked in offices where, if the internet goes down, nobody can do anything.

It's a great tool, yes. But somewhere along the line, it is ceasing to be a useful tool and becoming a life support system. I don't think that's something that can be changed. It's getting to the point where you can't really say to people like the OP, 'just don't use the internet', because it's increasingly harder to do that.

Well, you could set to. Stop being feeble! 😉

People would die, but sure.

People would have to wake up and set to, then. People are so feeble now. We'd have to just get on with it.

Sure but how long would it take for these systems to be put back into place? Months.

We had all these things prior to the internet though. It wasn't the dark ages. We even had computers and word processors.