Things People Did Before The Internet

It's already crystal clear that the internet is a huge shift in how we do everything. Do remember what the world was like before the internet? Well, it's hard to imagine a world without social media or google. Can you imagine a world without Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Google, where every important piece of information you could ever need (from the history notes from today's class to your BFF love life) weren't right at your fingertips? Well, your mom and dad lived in that world, and this is what it was like...These are few Things People Did Before The Internet. Lets get ready to take a big trip down memory lane.

1. Struggle to get music - The Walkman is at your service

The Walkman

Anyone remember the Walkmans? Before i-pod, before smartphones, this was our source of music. Recording songs, playing them…it was fun. Much before we could just download music from the internet, the only source of  music was from the cassettes. You bought the tapes, you played the chunky tape recorders or Walkmans.

2. The connection between a cassette tape and a pencil.

Cassette tape and a pencil

You were a total pro on how to use the pencil to get your tape fixed. They had to go to an actual store to buy the hottest new cassette albums. And buy physical cassette tapes, because there was no iTunes or Wynk music to download it in 10 seconds. Unfortunately, they were technologically outdated by the time the Internet started.

3."Playing" in a magical place called "outside."

Playing in a magical place called Outside

Remember Ludo, Snakes and Ladders? We played a lot of cards and board games. Games like Hide and Seek, Pithoo, Gilli Danda, Cricket are a rare sight these days. Kids played games outside, played in the creeks, played in the streets, rode bikes. The lack of technology allowed us to go out, revel in the sun and play with our actual friends. Yes. Play. Sports. Like cricket. Football. Badminton. And parents didn’t always require their kids to “check in.” You just had to be home before dark. Sound fun? It was.

4. When Romance Didn't Involve Swiping Right. Its about Writing a Love Letter to your crush.

Writing a Love Letter to your crush was as tough as Exams

Yes, people actually wrote real life letters in the pre-internet era! It was a thing! Receiving a hand-written note from your crush was such a high that you'd hold onto them forever. Modern girls may not understand this obsession, given that their love "letters" come via text and, really, who saves those?

5. Wait to watch TV Shows

Old black and white TV was always colorful 

Want to watch that one cartoon you like? Having to watch shows when they were on. Looking up movie times in the newspaper. Well, you better tune in at 8:30 am on Saturday, otherwise you’re out of luck. And if they missed it, they couldn't go online to get the recap. They had to hope their friends could remember every single important detail.  

6. Reading comic books that had entertained and made us wiser at the same time.

Comic books collection 

There was a world before the internet and it was filled with comics.  Summer meant endless days of reading comics while enjoying deliciously cool pepsi colas! Travelling somewhere meant taking these books along to read on the journey. Among kids , 'Nagaraja' was favourite of boys, while girls kept 'Pinki' on their best-loved comics lists. You would even borrow few comics from your friends and finish it within few hours. Be it Chacha Chaudhary giving a lesson of intelligence, Pinki troubling her neighbours or Shaktiman and Superman saving the world, we all loved it.

7. When taking pictures was simple, no filters or apps required, but just a smile!

Old Analog Kodak Camera

Technology killed the old analog film camera. You actually had to go to the store and leave your film there to have it developed. The excitement didn’t fizzle away till the film was actually developed and pictures printed. And then you could put your photos in a book and show them to your friends and family in person. With no filter.

8. Encyclopedias! There was no Google or Quora to give them the meaning of life..

Encyclopedias and other R&D Stuff

If you wanted to know something, you turned to your dictionary or the encyclopedia, and do your own research or read actual books at the library.. Many folks owned encyclopedias and had a set in their homes. In high school and college though, you had to go to the library.

9. A rotary dialer was used on old phones to dial digits and call numbers.

A Rotary Dialer

Having a telephone was a big deal. The entire locality had one phone, and calls for everyone on that phone. Do you remember using the rotary dialer?

10. WWF Trump cards..The ultimate treasure of our childhood. Collecting them all was our one hobby.

WWF Trump cards

I don't know if American kids played with these or not but in India, it was all the obsession. We used to get these in packs of chips and candies. It was fun game. We guess some of you must had kept the cards.

11. Adjusting the antenna to watch television?

A TV Antenna standing tall on the roof top

Before cable and satellite TV this antenna always worked like a charm when we have to watch our favorite classic DD serials and other shows. Shows like Chandrakanta, Shaktimaan, Jungle Book, and Shanti had people glued to their sets. But with better options in cable available, the audience soon migrated.

12. The excitement of writing letters can’t be matched by emails.

Letters and Letter Box 

Before internet, before mobile phones, this is how we would send and receive happiness. Today’s e-mails and mobile phone calls can’t beat that excitement you felt while receiving letters.

13. Cartridge console games and playing brick games

Cartridge console games and playing brick games

The good old Sega and Nintendo consoles were the best thing a kid in that time could wish for. Is there anyone who didn't like playing brick games? Your Sundays and holidays were never complete without this. Games like Ninja turtles, Contra and Mario Bros, Street Fighter, are classics people still love. The growth of computer gaming, better graphics and handheld consoles saw these being replaced.

14. But these days it's all about social networking with friends you don’t even know.

Today's kids