The internet in its classical sense is only thirty years old, yet now we have no idea how to live without it. But life was also pretty good in the days before the internet! And in this life, there were a lot of really cool things that we now miss so much.
Actually, the word "we" refers mostly to people who remember those times well. When Facebook was just a collection of photos of your classmates and Amazon was just a kind of parrot. When Pacman was the big game of the year and Michael Jordan was just a budding rookie.
There is an incredibly popular thread on Reddit with 45.5K upvotes and over 17.2K different comments answering just one simple question: "People old enough to remember life pre-internet, what are some less obvious things you miss about that time?"
Bored Panda made a selection of the most nostalgic and warm memories of those wonderful times of cassette recorders, Bird - Magic rivalry and the Back to the Future movie. We guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your parents are going to love it.
More info: Reddit
#21 The Smell Of Encyclopedia Britannicas
The smell of Encyclopedia Britannicas
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140points
#22 Sitting Down In The Evening To Read A Book Because There Was Nothing On TV
Sitting down in the evening to read a book because there was nothing on tv. With today’s streaming services, there is so much more media being produced - and it’s all available at the click of a button whenever you damn well please. It can easily become an endless loop of what to watch next. I remember when there used to be 8 channels. You either had to watch “General Hospital” or find something better to do.
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137points
#23 Video Game Cheat Codes Spread By Word Of Mouth
You had to call someone's home phone number and talk to their parents first before you could talk to your friend
Video game cheat codes either spread by gaming magazines or by word of mouth. Sometimes that word of mouth was b******t. I'm looking at you Tomb Raider nude cheat code
132points
#24 RSVPing mattered
RSVPing mattered. If you said you were going to be there, you made sure to be there. None of this facebook invites that everyone blows off without any form of social repercussions. If you said you were going to go and didn't go, you were the a*****e and everyone knew it.
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132points
#25 No Absolute Memory Of The Internet Cache
People would forget things you did that where maybe not the smartest..
131points
#26 The Effort That People Made To Stay In Touch
The effort that people made to stay in touch. Now, it is effortless, but people don't bother with anything but social media.
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128points
#27 News Only Being On At 6pm
News only being on at 6pm. That was it. Now we have 6 hours of local news and 24 hours of cable news. Not being bombarded all day with "news." And when you saw "Breaking News" on the screen you knew some serious s**t went down.
Edit: My old brain interpreted "pre internet" as "when you were a kid". So yeah cable news was a thing ore internet. But you all know what I mean. When I was a kid local news was noon for 30 minutes and 6pm for 30 minutes, then Network news was 6:39 for 39 minutes. I think local might have had an 11pm too but I don't remember for sure.
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125points
#28 Innocence. No Easy Access To The Scary Content
Innocence.
The ease at which even a kid can gain access to the scariest of content (or super serious content) is such a drastic change from the 90s early 2000s.
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123points
#30 The Absolute Absence Of Push Notifications
The absolute absence of push notifications.
Life just waited for you like a good person.
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106points
