What did you do...BEFORE the internet?

[DarthFennec]

Oh, life before the internet, what a blast.
I'm a programmer, always have been, but back before high-speed I didn't even have a computer, so basically my life before the internet consisted of me writing code in my school notebooks, in the margins of my tests, homework, on my arm, hand, or any other random place that ink stuck to. I still have notebooks filled with early code. I was fluent in four or five languages before I ever touched a computer. I guess I did things a little backwards but I'm okay with that I guess.

 

[The Code]

I had LEGO's, SEGA Genesis, N64, SWAT Kats, Game Boy, school, and a big backyard.

I was born in 1987, and I didn't really get too heavy into the Internet until DSL was becoming popular. I do remember dial-up, though. Those were some crazy times, I tell ya.

 

[game-lover]

TV and books, mostly. Watching people play videogames. Buying walkthroughs in book form.

I played outside a lot too, always rushing towards the swing set.

Back when I first discovered internet, I didn't know about forums so I liked searched for random stuff that interested me so I wouldn't even be on all that long.

 

[XandNobody]

I used to read, actual books. Was the time I'd read Dante and Homer, the time I loved the Greek and Italian epic poems. Now, I read this site and ignore reading Dante for homework. Ah, how the world works...

 

[gbemery]

I took adventures into the outside world, climbed the tallest of trees, swam the deepest of swimming pools, rode my bike down the longest of roads, ran away from the cutest of girls (because I was the shyest of kids back then) and I watched TV at what I consider its prime.

 

[godfist88]

I played Pokemon, back when it was the hottest thing around. i feel old just talking about it.

 

[sanomaton]

Hmm, I remember playing outside a lot with - since I didn't have friends when I was a kid - my older brothers (eg. football in the summer, snow fights in the winter...). Of course I also remember playing our beloved 8-Bit Nintendo and watching lots of TV (Pokémon!).

Come the internet and I suddenly made friends online. Good friends at that :3

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Your mothe- Oh, I mean, playing video games.

 

[superbatranger]

I mucked about the neighborhood with my friends, played videogames(mainly the N64), watched crappy television, and read those...what do you call them? Books? Yeah, that's it. Books.

 

[LegoDudeGuy]

I was born in 1995, so I did not get into the internetz till around 2005-06, but up till then, played with lego, read books, competed against the older students in Yu-Gi-Oh (had a massive deck back then.) and Pokemon (Both game and card game), got rejected by all the girls, went over to a friends house and played N64 (later Xbox then 360) and played Pokemon on my Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. Yep, total Pokemon mania during elementary school and to this day. Also, watched my Saturday morning cartoons like a religion up till grade 7. Also was a total outcast in almost every way, so the internet was a magnet.

 

[LordOrin]

The before-times is a myth propagated by the government. The web is eternal.

 

[captainwolfos]

Well, before the internet there was the wonder of 90s TV. Which had the most epic cartoons ever.

Also, there were the (what we now would consider old) computers with Window 95-98 which always had Dungeon Keeper playing on them. Either by myself or my mother; I found it highly entertaining watching sprites getting tortured.

[small]This sounds like something I'd have to tell a shrink.[/small]

 

[JourneyMan88]

Born in '67...
the 70's: rode my bike EVERYWHERE, played war (that's like an FPS, but outside) with toy guns that were virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. I remember getting these things, one was a VCR, is was 2 pieces, each weighed about 30 pounds, and a Magnavox Odyssey, and the gamer in me was awakened.
the 80's: upgraded to the Atari 2600 and continued to ride my bike until I got my license. Would hang out at the arcade at the local mall until it closed, then my friends and I would head to a 7-11 that always had a couple of the latest video games in the outcove.
the 90's: computer gaming ruled the day. Got my degree in computer programming, and I'm back in school now for video game design.

 

[Censorme]

N64. YTV, Teletoon, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. Legos. Big thick books.

 

[kasperbbs]

As far as entertainment at home went i played PS one games (used to trade in/rent them judging them entirely by their cover and a few screenshots on the back so i ended up getting a lot of crappy games), watched tv which i don`t do anymore and it seems that it got a loooot shittier these days, nothing to watch in the evening except terrible dance/singing reality shows featuring mostly the same stupid idols that we got here in Lithuania.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I got a hell of a lot more accomplished, that's for sure.

 

[thewinner194]

Video games and comic books. Oh, and football. I mean, I still play/read these things but to a lesser degree.

 

[Quaidis]

I can say one thing about me pre-internet years: I was outside a lot more.