What do you miss the most about life before the internet?

[Beatrixpotterspencil]

If you are old enough to have reached adulthood before it really became a household thing?
I love the net, I can't tell a lie! But there are some things I really miss from 'before'.

Such as:
The simplicity, from booking a holiday to clothes shopping, and when watching the news only once a day was normal. Feeling satisfied with a quiet hour in the library researching, and not having a device between you and the world perpetually.

I miss how slow fashion felt, how there was less pressure to 'do all the things'.

I miss that weird, organic way of finding things out for yourself.

I miss how slower paced things felt.

I miss how not being able to find data on everything actually made life seem less stressful. You weren't dizzy with indecision over which hairdryer to buy

There was less info, less choice, and less access to global affairs in general, but whether this has improved life or not I really don't know. But it's here now, and there is much to love about it, as well as to criticise.

Anyone else?

I miss nearly everything that everyone has mentioned. My children have so much more than I had, but I think they will be unhappier. Mainly because of social media and the internet.

I miss how things felt less stressful and overwhelming. We weren't bombarded with information, lies, misleading statements, a myriad of choices for a simple cup of coffee, adverts, spam etc all the time.
Life was simpler and slower.

I think the most serious issue now with the internet is men on porn and cheating hook ups which seem to be so easy and did not have to worry about any of that as the only form of contact in the 80;s was going to a phone box to phone or wait for a call fm your boyfriend and it was all so much simplier and easier.

Time!! Omg I imagine I must have had so much time not when I didn't waste hours in the day reading mumsnet the news and other rubbish every day

FOMO. I've come to realise that social media makes me feel I should be doing more 'out and about' even if we've been having a lovely time at home. Much less of a thing pre-internet as I didn't know what everyone else had been up to.

all (well most of) those things people say they miss, they can still do! Turn your phone off when you pick up a book! use travel agents! limit the news you watch and listen to! I get the food insta stupidity but you don't have to do it or care because others do. You don't have to look at the "shots from every angle" of your holiday destination. one thing I do not miss that insta et al. seems to have killed is "oh you must come round and see our holiday photos" and I don't miss the outrageous cost of film photography.

but fomo is something you can control...its YOUR choice.

I had loads of boyband crushes and I used to flick through magazines in shops to see if their pic was in it and then I'd make scrap books. Nowadays I can just Google my hotties.

I miss real life ‘tribes’ when you found people into your music or whatever and felt part of a gang.

The way ‘having nothing to do’ led to doing more interesting creative things

@godmum56 yes, you're right. I didn't write quite what I meant. As a forty-something I'm less bothered by it but had the internet been what it is now when I was in my teens and early twenties, I think I'd have felt left out when friends posted photos of things I hadn't been invited to. Wasn't a thing back then so rarely knew what I'd missed. That's kind of what I meant!

oh you would have known...there was always some backbiting cow to accidentally mention it the next day

People discussing things rather than 'let's Google it'
Also people actually talking on the phone rather than by text.
Being able to talk to someone rather than a machine.
Guess I miss the gradual diminishing communication. Quite sad actually.😥

I remember in the late 90s/early 2000s when I was late teen/early 20s my mum, sister and I used to love to go to craft fairs. There would often be a leaflet advertising the next one at a different location. We would see if we were free and then look on map how far it was. Then one person would drive while the other was in charge of directions from the map.
Even tho I use Google maps now to find places, I still prefer to look at the map on my phone and then visualise it in my head. Maybe write myself a couple of notes of road numbers etc and then follow road signs. If I have a passenger I don't mind them helping with directions but I find Sat Nav quite stressful and distracting when I'm driving.

I also totally relate to the PP re how much time I can waste scrolling on my phone rather than actually doing something useful!
I only usually read books on holiday and altho they are bulky to carry I prefer to read a real book to give myself a break from a screen.

I miss writing and receiving “proper” letters.

But l would not sacrifice that for the benefits of being my own “travel agent”.

In regards to being a young mums, I'd have loved the Internet when I had young children as I found it quite an isolating lonely time. I was the first of my friends to have children and I used to go to one toddler group per week and probably spent 10 minutes actually talking to another mum in between running around after my children. I see all the amazing local groups on fb now and people getting help and advice and having a connection to others. Mumsnet is absolutely wonderful. What I wouldn't give to have had Mumsnet as a young mum

So yes, it's not ideal to push a buggy and look at a phone but maybe they are desperately needing some connection at that point in time.

I don’t understand people who think booking flights was better before the internet.

You had to go to a travel agent, sit down at a desk and tell them where you wanted to go on what date. They’d look at a screen for a few moments and then plonk a piece of paper in front of you with some extortionate fare on it. Then an awkward silence while you decided whether to take it or leave it. Take it or leave it, those were your options.

It was awful.

This is more social media than Internet but (as this is from the 2000s!))
All the stupid stuff I did in my university years is firmly in the past. Honestly... there is several occasions I saw stuff that could ruin careers now (not mine) if it got out. (Just high jinks, not malice or criminal). But there are no photos or other records. No one streaming it to YouTube or Instagram etc. And we've all grown up to be responsible adults.

I do feel a bit sorry for teenagers these days that their mistakes could always come back to bite them.

Taking the camera film to the shop to be processed after your holiday, or even better them disposable cameras. Half of them would have a hand blocking the lens/sun too bright/ eyes closed etc but if you had 10 decent photos from a reel of 33 you did well that holiday

@BlackForestCake - I totally agree. I much prefer to do my own searches based on what I want, rather than on someone else's commission or offering you the first thing that appears on their screen.

As late teenagers booking a holiday my friend and I had our eye firmly on budget. We'd go and look for last minute bargains on Teletext holidays, then go to the travel agent and ask them to do the same.

Lady from Thomas Cook asked us to be ready to actually book next time we asked her to look for us. We were but there were no financially favourable last minute deals. We eventually found something in Zante that year. Nostalgia!

Very little, Internet has hugely improved my life. However applying for jobs is so much more of a faff with the internet, no more just dropping in or mailing off a cv, now it's a ridiculously long online form where you basically input everything that's on your cv and then upload the cv anyway.

The way we listened to music,the anticipation of a new album,the album cover or finding out who was number 1 was more special. Don't like how instant it all is now.

Conversations with strangers when travelling.