Can someone in their 50s exist with no internet?

[Bad80sPerm]

This. I don’t have home broadband so no laptop.

i could go to having just TV/Radio etc as my entertainment

Would you find if difficult?

Apparently. I'm 60 anxious thinking about setting up.a funeral plan .. online of course!

If it's just regarding entertainment then I could easily go without Internet.

However for managing daily jobs, banking, legal stuff, work, then Internet is essential

How do you post on mumsnet if you don’t have internet access? Going online via your mobile is still going online.

I am 50 and I would not choose to go without internet. I need it for my job, shopping and life admin. I don’t have TV and I don’t listen to radio. I ring my parents using WhatsApp.

People in their 50s had internet from their early 20s. I remember dial up and BitTorrent in my university years. I joined gmail and Facebook when you needed an invite from others who were already on it.

You needed the internet to post on here though.

I know a few people that seem to be proud of the fact they claim to manage a life with no internet whatsoever (my dad is one), yet regularly ask for help from people who do have internet access. My dad is always asking my mum to google things.

I'm not sure that age is particularly relevant but I'm in my 50s and grew up without the Internet but would miss it now:

WhatsApp for messaging family

WhatsApp groups for organising (politics, women's rights activism)

Twitter and Facebook for activism

Zoom meetings

Webinars

Duolingo app for language learning

Google translate

Online banking

Podcasts and audiobooks

Booking train tickets, flights and hotels

Booking cinema and theatre tickets

Iplayer

BBC sounds

BBC website for news

Work (I'm a teacher and need the Internet when planning etc at home because everything is on the school server)

Google Drive to store docs and Google photos to store photos

Google maps when going somewhere unfamiliar

Mumsnet!

Probably a lot more but that's what I thought of off the top of my head.

My uncle is mid 50’s, can barely use a mobile phone or a computer (has never had a job which would require it). Doesn’t online bank, doesn’t shop online, no social media.

No particular reason beyond he “doesn’t think it’s necessary”. I suppose in a way he’s not wrong.

AH YES!!

Just to say I’m not at all without internet now at the moment. I’ve got an up to date, recent edition iPhone so this prospect is hypothetical.

To be honest I do loads of internet banking so I don’t think an internet free life would be easy or feasible I was just curious and wondered what others thought really

A friend friend of mine who died recently in her 80's didn't use the internet at all, and it was increasingly difficult - she lived independently until the last 4 weeks of her life. She had (finally) accepted she needed a mobile phone (though a 'brick' Nokia) in the last year so that she could call taxis when she was out.

The reality was that her life was unnecessarily complicated; she was brilliantly clever, and still compos mentis when I saw her the day before she died - the internet became prevalent as she reached retirement age, and her decision to ignore it then made things more and more challenging as time went on - she did say that she wasn't sure, with hindsight, that she'd made the right decision.

So, in short, I really wouldn't recommend it - you want to be upskilling, not deskilling in you 50's (and beyond)

@SemperIdem but a lot of things are harder without the internet. Banking and shopping for example. I don’t know how you shop for insurance without it. Or switch your electricity and gas supplier. Or remortgage. Or book a holiday. It’s all the things you need to do for life admin.

Yes, and I'd love it. We managed before, we'd manage again.

FFS, this person is posting on Mumsnet - a literal internet site.

People on MN just aren’t as bright as they used to be. This would never have happened in the days of Balonz.

Yes, I’d find it incredibly difficult. I’m not in my fifties but I still remember how much slower and more granular everything was when you had to do everything in person, by mail, over the phone etc. I can do half a dozen things in less than fifteen minutes using some apps on my phone which would all previously involve an entire afternoon visiting the bank, the council offices, the travel agent, the shops, the solicitor’s offices, and so on; or waiting on hold on the phone for an hour, or sending something in the mail and waiting days or weeks for a response. Even little things like a quick fact check, or looking up a reference - achieved in seconds. I can see an argument for limiting the aspects of internet usage you find unproductive or unenjoyable, but not disconnecting yourself from a valuable means of communication and service provision entirely.

Haha yes I know the irony - I’ve the internet at the moment through my iphone

Bit coming off grid as if it’s 1982 IS something I’ve been thinking about!

However I won’t - given the level of internet banking I do

I remember ringing round to get insurance for my motorcycle. Looking through the Yellow Pages or bike mags for companies to ring. Calling each one with my details, writing the quote down, then calling back the best one. Took hours!

You don't know how? You pick up the phone and get quotes, organise a holiday by phone or going into a travel agent, utility suppliers are all on the phone. It's not that hard. Harder maybe, but still not hard.

Don't worry for them. They are the sensible ones. At least they won't be scammed online, get into pointless arguments with strangers, be hacked and all the other things being online brings on.

Yes, of course you could.

The internet is definitely a mixed thing. I enjoy the conveniences but do wonder if it was better to give those up for the simpler life. I know one thing though - I'm glad I got to have my childhood without the internet.

Getting rid of the Internet is like getting rid of the fridge, you could do it but why make your life more difficult then it needs to be

You not heard of phone scams?

He may be be able to get by now, but things are only going to become more automated and "in person" services are dwindling more and more.

Someone in their mid 50's conceivably has several decades more of life. Does anybody really think you're going to be calling a customer service line or actually walking into a brick and mortar bank for routine transactions 20 years from now? I doubt it.

I remember trying to read a train timetable, find the train tickets I wanted, book said train tickets, and locate the correct platform, in Budapest, without speaking Hungarian. It was a terrifying nightmare. But now I can put a search into Google, get directed to a website, translate the content to English, and immediately find exactly what I’m looking for and pay for it all in advance, and then get to-the-minute in-app updates about delays and which platform to go to.

We're more connected than ever, yet loneliness and mental health are worse than ever. I wonder if the loss of incidental face to face interactions and the need to connect in person for anything is partly responsible?

Anyone with half of grain of common sense can very easily avoid those things.

I would like to be without the Internet but it is almost impossible to live without it (buying cars, houses, children/school, clubs).