Ten Things Missed from the Times Before the Internet and Social Media
Every generation likes to tell the next generations what life was like "way back when." The amazing expansion of the Internet offers an excellent demarcation line between what was before and what followed. In carrying out this casual survey, a second line was discovered. For younger people the Internet has always existed. For them, the advent of Social Media beginning with email and IM and growing into all the new types from Twitter to Facebook is a line delineating a clear before and after.
When looking back nostalgically, both questions will serve. So what do you miss before these days of the Internet and Social Media? Here are ten answers that we found.
1. Intoxicating Fragrances of the Mimeograph Machine
Maybe this is going too far back. But a secret pleasure shared by secretaries, a class of worker also now extinct, and certain office assistants was the pleasure of making copies on the mimeograph machine.
Copy was typed to a master form and then this very messy master was attached to a drum. When the drum began to roll and to produce the inky copies, it released a slightly intoxicating aroma of exotic substances no one except a few chemistry geeks could identify. If a number of copies were needed, not only the secretary could become a bit tipsy but also those close to the machine could enjoy the momentary, lightheaded lift. It was not discussed. It was simply enjoyed.
Copiers and printers and online messages do not offer anything like it. The digital world does not smell.
2. Hand Written Letters
If you are a Ken Burns fan, you know much of the history he relates depends upon hand written letters. The words are interesting, of course, but it is the added dimension of the drawing of words to be passed hand by hand into the hands of the recipient that makes hand written letters so different. To hold the letter that was written and held by one's friend or loved one offers something not found online.
Individual penmanship is totally missing from online communication. Little comic faces substitute for what pen strokes revealed. "I miss... getting a thick envelope in the mail," reported one individual. "Written over the span of a few hours or days....Written with proper spelling... and with sentences that formed cogent thoughts....Not 'ru smart bcoz i need some1 smart LOL!'" What will the Ken Burns of the future do with the digital short hand that passes as full-fledged communication today?
3. Talking to People: One on One, Part I
Twitter and Facebook users "tweet" and "interface" which is not the same thing as really talking. Calling someone involves immediate engagement. Like a game of tennis or ping pong. One serves, the other returns. Each plays both roles, trading off as the discussion flows. And each can hear in the other's voice the "tone" of the communication. Printed words all neatly arranged in a type font are tone mute. Worse, font face combined with the rush to respond or limited by number of keystrokes can result in unintended tones. Human Relations officers often find a digital communication at the base of office squabbles and morale issues. Without hearing how something is spoken, we can often misinterpret intended emotion - even with the emoticons!!
4. Talking to People: One on One, Part II
Some people reported that Social Media has become a substitute for getting together, face-to-face with people. Not only has Social Media become a substitue for telephone conversations but it has also become a subsitution for social outings or visits. Some even report that this is how they communicate within their own home with family members or within their offices with co-workers just a few steps away.
Like voice tone, facial expressions and body language can express if someone really is "fine" or just putting on a good face. How important is it to match word content with physical communication cues like voice tonality and facial expression and body position and posture? It can totally alter one's understanding of other human beings! That can be pretty important in building and maintaining good human relations.
5. Walking on the Sidewalks with People Not Talking to Themselves or Bumping into Others Because They're Texting: Part I
Before the Internet was also the time before cell phones. In those times, strangers could walk up and down the sidewalks of American cities and only people walking in groups would be talking. Individuals would not be talking. And if an individual was talking to himself, you would give that person some added space for Harvey, his six-foot rabbit friend.
Now when walking down American sidewalks, it is rare to come upon individuals who are NOT talking aloud to unseen beings. Of course, they are talking to the invisible person on the other side of the cell connection. Or, at least, we can hope so. And forget the greeting or the pleasant nod or tip of the hat from a stranger. The streets and the strangers that walk them are more strange than ever. Except in one category: people who talk very loudly about personal matters on their cell phones. Now sometimes we cannot help but hear quite personal information about total strangers.
Additionally, one must now be alert when walking behind other people on the sidewalks because they may suddenly stop and begin poking at their cell phone for a call or a tweet or an email. They stop and block the flow of walking and one must be quick to avoid a physical collision. Of course, there is also the danger of being bumped into by someone who is so into their texting or call that they walk right into others. Yes, walking the sidewalks was much safer in the days before the Internet and Social Media.
6. Driving on the Street with People Not Talking to Themselves or Bumping into Others Because They are Texting: Part II
This is an extension of number 5 more than a Part II. The issue with driving and communicating was a problem when cell phones were just for calling. But now that people can participate in Social Media on their phones, the streets are also becoming more dangerous. People will be reading a text and begin to go right or left of center. People will not stop for lights and stop signs or won't move from a stopped position because their attention is absorbed by the text they are reading on their phones. And forget people signaling turns. They only have two hands and both are being used for texting. It has to be bad if the government is ready to make laws against such activities. Can they do that for city sidewalks and store aisles as well?
7. Library Card Catalogs and Encyclopedias
The Internet offers a great deal of information on a great deal of topics. No question. But it is rather pointed information. With a card catalog and with an encyclopedia, a researcher could find "context" for the information. For instance, if one was doing a book report for school on a writer of a book, he could also find in the card catalog all the other books not only that the writer wrote but also books that were written about that author.
The arrangement of books into Title, Author, and Subject categories made it possible to narrow and expand the search sometimes with unexpected and useful discoveries. This could be expanded upon by wandering down the stacks of books. Books related to the same author or subject would be there for one to examine for usefulness. It was fun.
The same was true of encyclopedias. The subject could be looked up and at the end of the entry related headings would be listed that one could pursue to learn more about specific facets of the researched subject.
Most of all, the researcher could have some confidence in the quality of the materials in a library and an encyclopedia. People who were leaders in their skills and knowledge would include sources of information that had been reviewed and judged valid. On the Internet, one travels at one's peril. Lack of trust in the legitimacy of information must occur where popularity, rather than peer review, rules.
8. Using a Map
The Internet has become the place for people to go to find out how to get from point A to point B. The travel map and atlas have mostly been replaced. But maps offer something that Mapquest and its ilk do not offer -- a chance to wander.
With a map, one can go to a locale and decide to go in any direction without following the left and right turns ordered by a system that is about getting somewhere. Maps are about traveling and exploring and looking for something other than a mere destination. But it does take some skills to use a map and to know if one is going North, South, East, or West. And a true map quest can be a group activity. A map can be put on the kitchen table and a family or a group of friends can gather round and design their own experience at a pace or in directions they may wish to alter along the way. Travel is not following a list of turns. It is about seeing how the parts of the journey exist in proximity to each other and to the desires of the free traveler.
9. Less Frantic Pace
Before the Internet and the whole digital revolution, things naturally took more time. Hand rendered materials, even typed materials, had to be created and copied and transported over miles at the speed of humans and not of electrical signals. Thoughtfulness and creativity had time to occur and be revised in the process. Considerations were extended beyond the immediate moment. Quality rather than speed seemed the key objective.
Now we all still want quality but we want it fast. And we want it cheap, too. Not only in the digital world but elsewhere. We want cars that go faster and farther on less gas. We want planes to take us faster and cheaper to our vacations where we are frantic to see all the sites and do all of the activities. We even want the paint we use on our walls and houses to dry faster so we can get several coats on in one day. We are about what is commonly referred to as "instant gratification."
What has been lost from those pre-Internet days when we had to take the time to watch the paint dry?
10. "My Childhood"
One of the youngest persons polled in this casual survey could not remember much about the time before the Internet. After thinking about it for a moment, he simply said, "My childhood."
Children born in 2010 will never know a past different from what they are experiencing now and going forward. It will never be amazing to them because it will be the norm.
For those who grew up with the Internet and Social Media, change and adaptation to technology is the norm.
For those whose lives go well back to the days before the Internet, the pace and the constant changes and the adaptation to new technologies are always more of a challenge.
One wonders what "childhood" will look like for future generations. One wonders what lines will demarcate those future generations from one another like the Internet and Social Media do for current living generations. One wonders if "childhood" will be on their lists of "Ten Things Missed Before..." whatever defines those future lines of demarcation.
What do you miss most about the world before the Internet and Social Media?
January is named after the Roman god Janus who looks both backward and forward, and it is in this attitude that we offer for your consideration a sampling of topics that take a long, long look in these two different directions.
Ten Things Missed from the Times Before the Internet and Social Media
Facebook v. Suicide Machine: We've Just Entered the Twilight Zone
Are You Ready for "Digital Life" After Death?
