Those under 25: how well do you remember your life before the internet?

[Onsheka]

18. Well I read alot of books, and watched telly. And disney movies on the VHS. I used to know how to record shows on that thing. I remember exploring the fields, running away from angry farmers. I remember waiting in the park for my dad to drive by on his way home.

I remember the computer was for word documents and simple teaching games. I remember playing LAN games all the time. I remember the original playstation, watching my brother play C&C.

 

[Chamale]

I remember when the internet was inconvenient to use, and there were no convenient forum sites for me. I don't remember the time I never used it, but I've been using the Internet since I could read. Of course, I've been using computers since I was 2, and I come from a family that's probably been using the Internet since the 1980's. I'm hardly a typical case. 17.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

ALL of it.

I'm not some guy who abandon going outside, I stll remember when TV was my passion, Rushing home on friday to watch Toonami and the such, Snacking on Pecan swirls and Snapple ice tea.

Oh yes, I remember it...But I want it back. 17

 

[Imbechile]

Got it 6 months ago so i remember really well.
In my country DSL has blossmed a year ago so thats why

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

I only "really" got into internet stuff about 5 years ago, and back then it was Neopets.

So, I remember it quite easily. I watched some TV and video games, but I usually just went and played with friends.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

I didn't get the internet until 2006. But I heard it was the most frustrating thing ib the world before broadband, so no love lost I suppose.

Lucky you. Oh the horrors of dialup, the horrors of AOL (do they still use that crappy-ass browser or can you use Internet Explorer now?).

 

[someonehairy-ish]

There... was a time.... before??

Joking- the end of the internet would basically just mean I'd have to work out guitar parts rather than being able to search for tabs. Umm. I'd have to get news about games and so on the old fashioned way. Magazines? That's pretty much it though.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I'm 19. I don't really remember much, but I remember having dial up... *shivers*
But I really have a horrible memory about a lot of stuff. I can remember maybe only a dozen things from before I was 14...

 

[yoyo13rom]

I'm 23, and I was kind of a late-bloomer when it came to internet - I didn't get internet at home until 1999. Even still, I barely remember what life was like because the internet is so pervasive in my life for school, news, socializing, getting information, and making purchases.

Recently I was in Eastern Europe and I went a month without regular internet access, and I think I adjusted rather well. However, I'm fairly certain that there is a sizable percentage of people online (especially those under 16 who have been connected their whole lives) that would become depressed and withdrawn if the internet suddenly disappeared.


What about you guys?

Excuse me for laughing, but "late-bloomer in 1999", HAhahahha! Oh that was a good one.*whipes laughter tears*
If you're a late-bloomer then I certainly don't know what I should call myself.
I mean I did have internet access from like the same year, as well, but it was so sucky and slow that I hardly used it. I mean back then I didn't even know what the internet was good for.
I got a decent internet provider in 2006, if memory serves me right(I wanted a better deal because I found out about this site about the upcoming PoP game; it have films and pictures that would take hours for me to download)

Anyway...

OT: I'm 19 and I can remember a lot of things from back when I was a kid. As a fun fact, my first memory is from when I was 4 and my dad was helping me play the first Prince of Persia game. It was then that I realised I was a living entity(because the password to my PC was my name and age, and something clicked in my making me realise that that was my name and age).

Anyway(I guess I got sidetracked again): I know a lot of 23-year-olds(they're some of my best friends, with which I grew up) have a lot of memories before the internet. Actually they even have good memories from before 1989(before that date, things were pretty gruesome in communist Romania).

And about internet addictions here: don't know any. Or at least the only guy that's somewhat addicted to something, is a friend that plays WoW.
I guess that using the internet to access specific sites just becomes a OCD-like routine to some, that's all.

 

[Vie]

I remember it quite well, we didn't get the net at home till 1998/9 ish, although I was a kid at the time so not sure if I can compare my life today with my life then.

I would say I was happier then than now, but that's more related to the way the world has changed - particularly politically.

 

[The Afrodactyl]

I don't remember much, but my life before the internet was essentially all lego and plastic dinosaurs.

I spend a lot of time on the internet, but if I lost all forms of internet access, I think I'd adapt pretty well.

Hell, maybe I'd start going outside again.

 

[Viking Incognito]

I had much more time on my hands.

 

[Simple Bluff]

I didn't get the internet until 2006. But I heard it was the most frustrating thing ib the world before broadband, so no love lost I suppose.

Lucky you. Oh the horrors of dialup, the horrors of AOL (do they still use that crappy-ass browser or can you use Internet Explorer now?).

Wow, AOL - that's something I haven't heard of in a while. I guess that answers your question?

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Ah yes. Mostly it was playing with my toys, Playstation, reading things, climbing trees. I only started going on the internet a lot once I started University, and I found the Escapist.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

My dad got the Internet when I was 3. Ever since we got it, I have been using it, as well as trying to understand it. To this day, I still do not get how it works, but one thing that I do know, is that no one man can grasp and understand what the internet is all about. We are too big.
So no, I do not...

I typed this all without looking at the keyboard! ^^

Calumon: I talk into the mic and words appear, does it count if I close my eyes too?

 

[historybuff]

My family didn't get a computer until I turned about 13. That was in 1999. I remember re-reading all my books, making those time-consuming bracelets out of embroidery thread and listening to music a lot. I didn't talk to anyone.

But the internet opened up that instant access to people in things I was interested in.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Internet? Hell I had the internet in Primary School, since year 4.

But before that? Streets Of Rage, Sparkster, Street Fighter, Alex Kidd and Golden Axe.

Oh, and The Ninja. If you've even seen that game in motion before, I love you. And I'm 22 by the by.

I'll never forget those diagonally bouncing boulders.

I do remember life before the internet, as I think I was 12 or 13 before I knew anything about it. It was similiar but for spending more time watching TV, and when we didn't know something we just stayed ignorant to it...we weren't going to go to the library to look it up.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I'm 19 and we didn't bother getting the internet until 2003/4. Even then I didn't use it regularly for another couple of years so I remember pre-internet times pretty well.
Lots more TV and playstation.