To wonder what lockdown would have looked like 15 years ago?

[hopsalong]

Just that really. I find myself wondering more and more what would have happened if Covid had hit when I was in my early 20s. How would we have responded? Without fast internet and webcams, how long would lockdown have been able to carry on?

I'm assuming a world technologically sophisticated enough to identify Covid-19 and test for it, a world with internet and laptops, but one where very few people had webcams or home connections were slow. Could you have WFH?

In my little world, I can't work out what would have happened. My Oxbridge college has already lost about £2m from the crisis. If the students were successful in claiming back their tuition fees for this year we'd be in a very precarious position indeed and liquidating the endowment. I assume in general that the government would have had to bail out the HE sector. But what about schools? What if children (at least most) couldn't reasonably be expected to stay in touch with the school without being there? What if internet shopping was much less sophisticated?

I wasn't yet in the workplace 15 years ago so curious to hear from people who were...

Fifteen years ago the government would have reacted much more quickly and actually closed borders or implemented hotel quarantine. Any virus would not have got into the country in such large numbers, because people travelled less. Easyjet and Ryanair were not the force they were in 2019.

Fifteen years ago any rules would have been properly enacted in law by the then Prime Minister, and even though Mr Blair was hated over Iraq, would have been taken seriously. The 2001 general election was postponed because of foot and mouth, which affected animals more than humans, but demonstrated a willingness to act.

I expect given the limitations of technology schools would have had restrictions such as children only attending one or two days per week on some form of rota.

For me 15 years ago I was just finishing uni and starting work in a call centre. I lived at home with.my parents. .
If lockdown would have happened then, we had one desktop pc with Windows 98 on it. I can't remember if we still had dial up but if we did habe broadband it would have been the cheapest slowest one.
I had a mobile phone but it didn't have the Internet on. My parents didn't have mobiles, just a land-line. I did have a car so did have my independence.

I would have found it very difficult I think mentally because I would have been in lockdown with my parents who were /are very old school and have never had technology. My dad was/is a very grumpy man as well which wouldn't have been pleasant.
During that time of my life my favourite thing to do was socialise and all of my memories are of my best friend and I put clubbing every Weekend. I would have found it tough if I couldn't do any of that.

Crikey 15 years isn't that long ago. I had on line shopping and banking all up and running, I do think we might have acted more quickly, let's face it we could hardly have moved more slowly than we have over this 🤦

Govt I mean

I started working from home in 2001. Had a lap top, mobile & fax, but Internet was via a dial up connection which was slow and unreliable.

A lot of work being done currently requires higher bandwidth though & my impression is that sectors like retail have shed a lot of jobs since then, so more people would have worked in roles that could not be done remotely.

I think we would have relied on phones more. Phone / fax shopping was definitely a thing along with phone banking / insurance / holiday booking.

As I've typed that, I remembered ceefax - was that still going then? I can see learning via ceefax being organised.

Interesting replies, thank you! Surprised that anyone thinks they had a good internet connection 15 years ago, though!
I had a DSL line about 18 years ago and it was pretty fast (not UK though)

I think people are forgetting 15 years ago was 2005 - not the mid 90’s.

I was first year uni, plug in broadband in every room in halls, some halls had WiFi, most people I know were online shopping (parents used to have a care package delivered every other week) and we had a semi decent VLE where lecturers were posted to blackboard and you could access ebooks from the library.

If I’d been sent home, I’d have survived - we had internet from 95/96 onwards as my dad worked from home so by 2005 we had the office line and the private line, by 2006 we had WiFi.

I spent the summer of 2006 working in an office and I’m 90% certain we had Skype to communicate with the customers around the world. We did still get faxes though so they would have been an issue.

Politically, I think we would have moved quicker. I don’t think there would have been a greater level of compliance though - 2005 I remember being the start of the turn regarding the government and people following “experts” especially in relation to Blair’s actions.

Do people think the 2008/2009 crash would have been better, worse or non existent if Covid happened 05/06?

Let’s see, 2005 so...

A massive increase in Lovefilm DVD rentals by post, I think!

In 2005 I was in my early 20s and living in Paris.

I didn't have wifi at home or a laptop, I used to use the internet and email from work, or at weekends went to an internet cafe (remember those?)

My phone had a camera but it was truly shit, and no video.

I used to work for a hot shot lawyer and he spent August working from his yacht in Cannes. We used to fax him the documents he needed. So remote working was possible to a degree.

Was in a job where wfh was impossible.
We had wfi and a desktop at home.
My exh could not wfh.
My exh and I had no children at this point either
I just had a basic phone. I think I could take pictures on it though.

From a personal pov would have been easier as it was before we had kids. And although I wasnt a key worker, I worked for one. So probably would have continued to do so in the second and third lockdown but probably not the first, when they would have furloughed me.

Generally, the vaccine might have taken longer to be developed.
I am not sure if it would have spread globally the same or not. Guessing probably about the same.

it wud hv bn rly rly sht
Sent from Nokia 5140

2005 I was mid 20's, a manager in a supermarket, single and living alone 300+ miles away from family. For the first lockdown I probably would have just got on with it as it was all unknown but when things started going downhill again in the autumn I probably would have resigned, moved back to parents and taken any job going. I got homesick a lot back then and I think the loneliness of not seeing friends or going out socialising would have affected me. How different life would have turned out if that had happened.

2005 would have been great for me-I’d have been furloughed I think and living in a flat share in london with now-DH and two of our best mates. I had internet banking, we all had laptops and a desktop computer with internet access and wifi, but it was pretty crap. We would have had a great time partying away