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1  Other / Politics & Society / Re: Where would society be without the internet? on: April 20, 2018, 07:28:07 PM
Well, the answer really depends upon the way the question is asked regarding the scenario in which the internet is no more or never was;

Q1) What if the internet never existed?
Long Answer: If the internet had never been invented, we would be in an era much like the late 1980s. We would still be technologically innovative, as that is our nature. However, without the ease of access of information and tools the internet provides, we would be much more slow in our innovation. Look at it this way, if the internet was never a thing, we would still have the tools it provides, but not centralized into one machine/program. Take a look at something like Photoshop. That doesn't require an internet connection per say, however, you have tools, extras, tutorials and information you can find on the internet. Without the ease of information and sharing that the internet provides, you would have to find that information from somewhere else, be it a book, newspaper, magazine, or a physical person.

TL;DR: We would be in an era similar to the late 1980s, with a lot of technological innovation, but no ease of access to that information to the common consumer.

Q2) What if the internet was disabled due to a new law or regulation, or destroyed by technological warfare?
Long Answer: In a world full of regulations and scares regarding net neutrality, many people are, sadly, asking this question. If the world lost internet connectivity altogether, it would be like living in "London in the 1840s with no steam power, or New York in the 1930s with no elevators."1 Going along with those examples, imagine living in a highly populated area full of these new, towering buildings and you work on the top floor, along with hundreds of other employees. It would be nearly miserable to just walk up and down the staircase to get to work. Or if you lived in a highly industrious area that used new technology to build machines humans thought would be impossible to harness the power of for hundreds of years, without the use of a new major power source such as steam. It would be a chaotic mess of people who solely relied upon the internet for information, entertainment, social interaction, and inter-business connectivity. A world where people are left to wonder, and fail to reconstruct their once beloved internet, but never cease to stop their failed resurrections. The internet can be compared to an addiction. I'll compare it to the 1920s in the United States, and the Prohibition Era. If you take away something people love and crave, like alcohol, like the internet, they will go through hell and back with vehemence to get it back. People will set up things similar to the internet, an intranet, if you will. They will never be able to gain wide popularity, and have to be hidden, and cost a pretty penny to be a part of. Because hey, if the internet is gone and you figure out how to get something like it back in private circulation while hiding the entire operation from the government, you deserve some extra cash.

TL;DR: If the internet were to be eradicated, it would send not only your country into a frenzy for some sort of reconciliation, but the entire world. On top of the world being in chaos and nobody being able to speak their minds to the entire world (over the internet), some people would attempt to monetize the situation with illegal activity consisting of setting up private intranets and requiring a high priced subscription in order to join.

In Two Sentences: If the internet would have never been created, the world would be very similar in terms of technological progress and innovation to the 1970 and 1980 eras. If the internet were to be destroyed in some sort of way, it would bring crimes being committed to attempt to revive the internet in a highly monetized dystopia similar to the United States' Prohibition Era in the 1920s and 30s.

1: Snow, Blake. “What Would a World Without Internet Look Like?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 5 Apr. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/a-world-without-internet/476907/.

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