Could you get by without the Internet?

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I was talking to a former co-worker who thought I was crazy when I said that the Internet is just important as any other utility you pay for.

She had "higher priorities" and doesn't know how to use the Internet to it's full potential. She doesn't have it at home and can't afford it and uses it mostly at work.

My question to you is: could you live w/o the Internet?
I couldn't. I use it to:
Make money off sites like Craigslist, Ebay forums and opinion outpost.
Play and DL games online
Do my taxes
Look for jobs
Look of houses
Waste time
Watch streaming content

I'd give up many things before I'd give up my beloved internet.
 
I know that I would have big problems not being able to use the internet. I do too many activities to voluntarily quit. Hell, I had broadband for years before I signed up for a pay tv service. I've had Dish Network for almost 12 months now, but I've had high-speed internet for over 6 years.
 
Other than needing e-mail access at home I could probably get by without it, though I'd really miss it for Netflix streaming.

Definitely need it at work as e-mail is used a ton these days and doing research work I need it to get articles from the electronic databases etc.

But sometimes I hate having it at home as I waste so much time on sites like these.
 
I wouldn't want to live without high speed internet, but I could easily get by without it if I had to. My wife and I canceled our home phone and cable service, but we still have high speed internet.
 
Well, it's not as important as food, water, and shelter, but definitely more important then cable and other forms of entertainment for me.
 
Definitely.

My family didn't get an internet connection til I was in High School (AOL dial-up, haha) and I got by just fine up til that point.
On a more modern note, I'm not really a fan of online gaming (especially pay-to-play BS like XBOX Live).
I much prefer single-player games with great stories and gameplay and/or getting a small group of friends together to play multi-player games.
I'm just old-fashioned, I guess.

There's a million reasons why I love the Internet, but I know deep down I could accomplish so much more in life if I didn't waste so much time online.
Plus people have become WAAAAAAAAY too dependent on technology these days.
Back in my day, kids had to learn about stuff, not just look it up on their smart-phones! :lol:
 
[quote name='Gameboy415']Definitely.

My family didn't get an internet connection til I was in High School (AOL dial-up, haha) and I got by just fine up til that point.
On a more modern note, I'm not really a fan of online gaming (especially pay-to-play BS like XBOX Live).
I much prefer single-player games with great stories and gameplay and/or getting a small group of friends together to play multi-player games.
I'm just old-fashioned, I guess.

There's a million reasons why I love the Internet, but I know deep down I could accomplish so much more in life if I didn't waste so much time online.
Plus people have become WAAAAAAAAY too dependent on technology these days.
Back in my day, kids had to learn about stuff, not just look it up on their smart-phones! :lol:[/QUOTE]

I could probably get by if I had to, but it'd be tough.

Not much of an online gamer that plays FPS, about all I play is Mario Kart or Culdcept Saga.

But I do waste a ton of time online.
 
At work, absolutely not.
At home, there are days, sometimes weeks where the only internet use is xbox live and/or netflix.
 
I could live without it. Only time I would miss it is when I'm doing some research for something. Or if I would be looking for a job. It's a useful tool, but not a necessity. That might also be just because it cost so damn much up here for broadband.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']I'm sure I could, but I certainly don't want to.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I'm sure I could live without it but definitely do not want to.

Between Netflix, gaming, and the such, yeah, I don't really want to live without the internet.
 
Of course I could, what are you trying to say? You think I'm addicted? Hey screw you man, I can quit whenever I want!

*twitch*
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']I'm sure I could, but I certainly don't want to.[/QUOTE]

+1.

There are way too many things I use the internet for and I couldn't imagine going back to an existence where the Victoria's Secret catalog is the most important publication in the world.
 
Since I work at home, and I need the Internet to communicate, no, I couldn't live without it. I get antsy even when my router needs to be reset or the cable service goes down.
 
Honestly, probably not. Last time we had a blackout I was just sitting here with absolutely nothing to do. That was the most boring 2 hours of my life.
 
I think the internet has become a big part of everyday life. People use it for business, shopping, paying bills, entertainment, and keeping in touch with family / friends.
Your friend might think differently on the importance of it if the internet was taken away and noone had access >.>;
I need the internets
 
As long as I have a book light and a gas stove, I could live without power and internet.
Do I want to though? Hell no.
 
couple days ago they dropped off 2 big yellow pages books, and i was just thinking how pointless it was because if i want to find a number ill just use the internet. Just think of everything the internet has replaced, encyclopedias, those huge phone books, paper maps, etc. i think most of us dont even realize how important the internet is now. some people probably wouldnt even know how to pay their bills without the internet.
 
Probably with a few changes. I do some shopping online and visit some forums, Email is infrequent but useful. Playing online isn't necessary as most games are better offline (and I quit with PC games once the DRM, malware, and Steam were released). I do zero streaming since movies are horrible.
 
[quote name='ritchardf']couple days ago they dropped off 2 big yellow pages books, and i was just thinking how pointless it was because if i want to find a number ill just use the internet. Just think of everything the internet has replaced, encyclopedias, those huge phone books, paper maps, etc. i think most of us dont even realize how important the internet is now. some people probably wouldnt even know how to pay their bills without the internet.[/QUOTE]

And what happens when you have a pipe burst but your internet is down and you don't have cell phone reception for 3G... Those Yellowbooks aren't so pointless anymore to find a number for that plumber.

I agree phone books seem utterly useless but I'd rather they keep printing them so in case of an emergency I can find a number to call if the good ol' internet isn't around.

Printed material can't keep up with the speed of the internet, but hey, if you're looking for information on "kola bears" at the library, you could just grab the Encyclopedia Britannica rather than Google it and try to discern what is legitimate information from legitimate sources. Is it that hard to discern for savvy users? Probably not. But I'd say a 70 year old grandmother using an encyclopedia is more likely to repeat legitimate information to you than if she tried using Google.

Even with printed maps - I found myself lost when I was out of town once. I couldn't get the GPS on my phone working because I happened to be stuck in a terrible coverage area. Luckily I had a Thomas Guide in the backseat that actually covered that particular city even though it was a few hours away from the main metropolitan region.

Yeah the internet has replaced physical printing a ton, but printed materials still have their place and still have their uses.

Funny enough I wonder how many 20-somethings don't know how to balance a check book thanks to debit cards. Then they cry when they over-draft. If it wasn't for the electronic convenience of the debit card they would have had to have written a check and then balanced their check book, and instead of over-drafting, their check would have bounced and you would have had a really pissed store owner.

I think everyone should still know how to use printed/paper resources correctly, just in case the world wide web isn't around when you need it.
 
There's really no need for balancing a check book these days. With online banking you can easily log in and keep track of your cashflow.

I used to be anal about it, use the register, used Microsoft Money etc. Just no point these days. I don't have much activity on my checking account anyway as I put everything on a credit card and pay it off in full each month to earn reward points (and easy to track spending on that on the credit card website). So all I have are direct deposits and my online bill payments each month (I don't pay any bills by check).

I get the need to have back ups if the internet is down . But if there's some case where it's totally unaccessible for a week or more (totally down, not just at your house)we probably have bigger things to worry about than our checking account balances!

The other things I agree with. People should still no how to use the library etc.

But even that's becoming less essential with most academic journal articles being accessible electronically from university library websites. And with e-books will eventually see a rise in those being able to be checked out from libraries etc. (already can, just limited locations and selection).
 
I know I couldn't live without the internet. I could probably get by without online gaming if I had too, but that's about as far as I could go.

I actually moved back in May, and it took forever for us to get internet hooked up here for whatever reason (at least a month). I would either leech off my neighbor's internet or if his net was down, I'd go to a store or restaurant that had free wifi and just sit there for a few hours just doing whatever on the internet.
 
I used to be anal about it, use the register, used Microsoft Money etc. Just no point these days. I don't have much activity on my checking account anyway as I put everything on a credit card and pay it off in full each month to earn reward points (and easy to track spending on that on the credit card website). So all I have are direct deposits and my online bill payments each month (I don't pay any bills by check).
Click to expand...

What's sad is that I'm an accounting major and haven't balanced my checkbook in many many years. I just look online.

I'd use the credit card more for rewards, but I hate the sticker shock of seeing how much I spend every month (which would be even more with all the eating out and other stuff I do)
 
[quote name='2DMention']
I'd use the credit card more for rewards, but I hate the sticker shock of seeing how much I spend every month (which would be even more with all the eating out and other stuff I do)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, if you're not good at staying on a budget you have to either start keeping one or at the least check the credit card activity online every few days so you're keeping an eye on what you're spending and can cut back if you're getting above your monthly budget.
 
I've had to live without it every year when I would visit my Grandparents in Mexico. We would be out there for about 2 weeks and it would suck. I would spend 75% of my time just playing video games instead of enjoying the outdoors (not much to even enjoy in that part of Mexico anyways, population of about 50 people only lol..)

The other 25% percent would be spent sleeping and eating. If the internet were to suddenly vanish though, my procrastination would decrease dramatically, and I would be a crazy muscle freak by now. Hell, I would probably even read books as well!
 
[quote name='Gears24']I've had to live without it every year when I would visit my Grandparents in Mexico. We would be out there for about 2 weeks and it would suck. I would spend 75% of my time just playing video games instead of enjoying the outdoors (not much to even enjoy in that part of Mexico anyways, population of about 50 people only lol..)
[/QUOTE]

I actually love getting away from the internet during vacations etc. If it's a trip where I don't have to do any work while away, I usually don't take my laptop as I want to relax and enjoy the time off rather than waste time goofing on forums etc. like I do every day normally.

I'll just print out all the direction, info etc. for the trip before I go and stick that in my luggage so I don't have any need for looking up addresses etc. Plus you can always ask the hotel front desk for that kind of stuff. It's nice to unplug a few times a year and get away from the net, e-mail, work etc.


Even if I'm just visiting family I tend to not get online much (my parents only have dial up) and spend time catching up on reading etc. That's nice as well. The sad thing is that in the average week I probably spend more time goofing online reading about my hobbies or posting about them on message boards than I do actually engaging in the hobby!
 
Yeah, if I actually went on a REAL vacation, I definitely would not bring any kind of technology with me except my cell phone or something. My grandparents live in such a run down town in Mexico; that you will see everything the first day you get there. It's THAT small. Nothing but old people live there, and they've been living there for their whole life time. It's pretty hard to keep sane in an environment like that. Plus it is extremely baron and really ugly.. lol
 
I spent a few days house sitting where the internet took a shit shortly before the owner left and she neglected to call and get it fixed. I likened it to living in a second world country.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']There's really no need for balancing a check book these days. With online banking you can easily log in and keep track of your cashflow.

I used to be anal about it, use the register, used Microsoft Money etc. Just no point these days. I don't have much activity on my checking account anyway as I put everything on a credit card and pay it off in full each month to earn reward points (and easy to track spending on that on the credit card website). So all I have are direct deposits and my online bill payments each month (I don't pay any bills by check).

I get the need to have back ups if the internet is down . But if there's some case where it's totally unaccessible for a week or more (totally down, not just at your house)we probably have bigger things to worry about than our checking account balances![/QUOTE]

But see that's part of the problem people are probably having. I assume most people have to write physical checks to their landlords still unless you live in apartments owned or managed by corporate entities.

You write your check for $1,350... You have $3,000 in your bank account. After you write that check, you pay other bills and expenses electronically over the course of the month, staring at that $3,000 balance. Then your landlord cashes your check two weeks after you send it in. Because the bank didn't magically know that you wrote a check, you didn't account for it when staring at your account balance. The landlord cashes it and you don't even know, then you overdraft on something. Or even worse, you've spent too much and now your rent check bounces.

Balancing a check book is really not that different than budgeting - the two go hand in hand. Unfortunately, most people today don't seem to know how to budget, and based on the constant bitching about over-draft fees they can't mentally balance their check books in their head as they swipe their debit card.

People have just become lazy and stupid with the technology keeping track of their account balances. And if you're not on top of it keeping track on your own, how do you know the balance is accurate? Would you even notice if you went out to dinner and picked up the tab for $73 including tip, but the server took a few more bucks than you authorized? Of course I'm sure most people will answer "Of course I'd notice that" but I'd highly doubt it (putting aside the anti-fraud mechanisms that are supposed to go along with electronic money transfers).

The bottom line is we trust technology to do so much stuff for us that people in general has given up being accountable for their own actions or inaction.

Doing some kind of budgeting and balancing of cash flow is just as vital as knowing how to use and read a map or how to look something up in an encyclopedia. Especially since its not 100% electronic and never will be.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']There's really no need for balancing a check book these days. With online banking you can easily log in and keep track of your cashflow.

I used to be anal about it, use the register, used Microsoft Money etc. Just no point these days. I don't have much activity on my checking account anyway as I put everything on a credit card and pay it off in full each month to earn reward points (and easy to track spending on that on the credit card website). So all I have are direct deposits and my online bill payments each month (I don't pay any bills by check).

I get the need to have back ups if the internet is down . But if there's some case where it's totally unaccessible for a week or more (totally down, not just at your house)we probably have bigger things to worry about than our checking account balances!

The other things I agree with. People should still no how to use the library etc.

But even that's becoming less essential with most academic journal articles being accessible electronically from university library websites. And with e-books will eventually see a rise in those being able to be checked out from libraries etc. (already can, just limited locations and selection).[/QUOTE]
I've been trying for years to convince my mother to stop using a paper register. I have managed to get her to use her bank's site for checking things, but that's it. I even offered to setup some personal accounting software for her, but no.
 
[quote name='kodave']But see that's part of the problem people are probably having. I assume most people have to write physical checks to their landlords still unless you live in apartments owned or managed by corporate entities.

You write your check for $1,350... You have $3,000 in your bank account. After you write that check, you pay other bills and expenses electronically over the course of the month, staring at that $3,000 balance. Then your landlord cashes your check two weeks after you send it in. Because the bank didn't magically know that you wrote a check, you didn't account for it when staring at your account balance. The landlord cashes it and you don't even know, then you overdraft on something. Or even worse, you've spent too much and now your rent check bounces.

Balancing a check book is really not that different than budgeting - the two go hand in hand. Unfortunately, most people today don't seem to know how to budget, and based on the constant bitching about over-draft fees they can't mentally balance their check books in their head as they swipe their debit card.

People have just become lazy and stupid with the technology keeping track of their account balances. And if you're not on top of it keeping track on your own, how do you know the balance is accurate? Would you even notice if you went out to dinner and picked up the tab for $73 including tip, but the server took a few more bucks than you authorized? Of course I'm sure most people will answer "Of course I'd notice that" but I'd highly doubt it (putting aside the anti-fraud mechanisms that are supposed to go along with electronic money transfers).

The bottom line is we trust technology to do so much stuff for us that people in general has given up being accountable for their own actions or inaction.

Doing some kind of budgeting and balancing of cash flow is just as vital as knowing how to use and read a map or how to look something up in an encyclopedia. Especially since its not 100% electronic and never will be.[/QUOTE]I've written about 3 check I think since opening this checking account about 5 years ago. There's just no need for me to.
 
[quote name='Clak']I've written about 3 check I think since opening this checking account about 5 years ago. There's just no need for me to.[/QUOTE]
I opened a new one 3 years ago and haven't even opened my check book since. :p
I used to try to keep it balanced, but I gave up; now I just use Excel to keep track of my spending (physical and electronic.)
 
[quote name='Gears24']Yeah, if I actually went on a REAL vacation, I definitely would not bring any kind of technology with me except my cell phone or something. My grandparents live in such a run down town in Mexico; that you will see everything the first day you get there. It's THAT small. Nothing but old people live there, and they've been living there for their whole life time. It's pretty hard to keep sane in an environment like that. Plus it is extremely baron and really ugly.. lol[/QUOTE]

Oh I understand. My parents still live where I grew up--in the middle of no where in WV.

When I go home I just try to catch up on reading on my Kindle, take some movies to watch etc. and take advantage of catching up on hobbies while taking some time off from work.

Realistically, I end up doing some work anyway while there. Just the nature of the publish or perish nature of an academic job, just always have work that needs to be done if you want to stay ahead.

But in any case I try to stay of the internet and just get some work done while there, and catch up on leisure reading, movies etc. in the free time. As well as going fishing with my dad and other family things.

[quote name='kodave']But see that's part of the problem people are probably having. I assume most people have to write physical checks to their landlords still unless you live in apartments owned or managed by corporate entities.

You write your check for $1,350... You have $3,000 in your bank account. After you write that check, you pay other bills and expenses electronically over the course of the month, staring at that $3,000 balance. Then your landlord cashes your check two weeks after you send it in. Because the bank didn't magically know that you wrote a check, you didn't account for it when staring at your account balance. The landlord cashes it and you don't even know, then you overdraft on something. Or even worse, you've spent too much and now your rent check bounces.[/QUOTE]

Oh I can get that risk. But people should have the common sense to know they've paid their rent (same amount every month) and factor that in when checking their balance online and seeing it hasn't cleared yet.

The last couple of places I've rented I've just transferred my rent to the landlords electronically as they also had Bank of America accounts. It was the only real way to do it as the other guy was out of state so it would be a hassle to mail, and I'm currently renting my ex-gf's condo while she's out of the country for at least a year.
 
For an extended period of time, no. When I get home from work until I go to bed, I'm on the internet 80% of that time whether it be chatting with friends, surfing the web or playing World of Warcraft. I must admit, there were a few times where something happened and I was without internet for a few days and it was a nice break. I got to play some single player console games, read more and get stuff done around the house. I was very happy when I finally got it back though.
 
[quote name='tcrash247']For an extended period of time, no. When I get home from work until I go to bed, I'm on the internet 80% of that time whether it be chatting with friends, surfing the web or playing World of Warcraft. I must admit, there were a few times where something happened and I was without internet for a few days and it was a nice break. I got to play some single player console games, read more and get stuff done around the house. I was very happy when I finally got it back though.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's where I have a love/hate relationship with it as far as home use goes.

I enjoy surfing the net, chatting with friends, goofing on forums etc. But at the same time it at times feels like an addiction that keeps me from really maximizing enjoyment in the free time since I'm doing that instead of reading, watching movies, playing games etc. As well as being less productive at work from goofing online during the day etc.

So it's kind of a blessing and a curse. Great source of information, communication and entertainment, but it can be a drain at time and lead to stupid shit like spending more time talking about hobbies on forums that actually engaging in said hobbies!
 
I remember a time that there was no internet, and we did just fine.

Now that I have it, I would not want to give it up.

Such is the sign of the times.
 
I could have a few years back, but not now- since work has decided to online-only with paystubs, and force direct depost on damn near everyone (it's that or a 'pay card' that charges you a fee for most transactions), I now need the internet to keep my funds in check. I do most of my shopping online now, too.

Isn't there a country in Europe that officially made the internet a commodity?
 
[quote name='Number83']I remember a time that there was no internet, and we did just fine.

Now that I have it, I would not want to give it up.

Such is the sign of the times.[/QUOTE]
And you had to walk 5 miles to school, uphill, and in the snow too.;)
 
there's no way I could now, but had it never been invented, obviously we all could.

now, I'm grabbing for my smart phone every other minute looking at shit.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']
now, I'm grabbing for my smart phone every other minute looking at shit.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I've avoided getting a smartphone for just that reason. I'm near a PC most of the time anyway, and I don't want the temptation when I'm out and about and away from the internet!
 
After working at a public library that provides free internet access to it's patrons, I thank gawd every day that I have my own high speed internet access at home.

Since the economy took a dump, thousands of unemployed people are finding that many employers will only except job applications online now, or they need a resume submitted online. Everyday there are literally hundreds of people fighting to get a one hour time slot on one of our twenty internet stations just to fill out job applications. On top of that, many social services in our area (like unemployment, some forms of welfare) are now only available online; no online account, no internet access=no payment.

Free internet access aside, my workplace could no longer function without the internet. There is no way we'd be able to coordinate activities between 30 different library branches on a daily basis without it.

For me, I probably could live without internet access, but it would make my life really damn inconveinent. Well, as long as I wasn't unemployed. Then I'd be screwed. Plus I like shopping on the internet, and hate driving--you'd be amazed at what you can buy online. (I swear, if Trader Joe's offered a home delivery service via internet I'd never have to leave my house, except to go to work). If I had to drive everywhere to buy stuff, I'd waste alot of time.

My husband does alot of business over the internet (ordering parts for home repair jobs that he has delivered) that saves him alot of time as well.

Besides, not having any high speed internet access is so...uncivilized. One of my new criteria for moving somewhere is that it must have high speed internet access.

And yes, I remember a time before no internet, and now that I think about it, it sucked.
 
and go back to buying porn in a dirty gas station from a random assortment rack behind a stained curtain behind the register? No thank you!

In all seriousness, I think I could manage. While I use it for a lot, I could get by without it. I'd certainly miss a lot of things, but I enjoyed the life of outdoors as a child and still do during nice weather or time I can get out of the house and do things (like skiing). There isn't much I NEED to do online, other than email, banking, and shopping... but all of that is replaceable by brick and mortar shops, just inconvenient.

I understand the people who can live without it though as I have many friends and family who have not fully adopted modern methods for things. I know a few people who still use computers at the public library if they need something.
 
As to the original title question, yes but it would make things a lot more time consuming than they are right now.
 
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