How Would You React If The Internet Went Down?

[SckizoBoy]

Clean out every branch of Waterstones in London... seriously, I need a fix of books every week and teh webz is where I get it.

And now that I'm developing a taste for comics/graphic novels it's only going to make my travel bill even worse.

Other than that... I'll mourn the fact that I can't communicate with a lot of my friends any more...

 

[Mistilteinn]

I'd probably go through a brief withdrawal period of sheer and utter boredom, as I've been spending a lot more time online than normal (and against my better judgment, at that). Afterwards, though, I'd likely become absurdly productive for the first time in a long time.

For starters, I'd finish the five or six books I've been meaning to finish (that'd take a couple weeks, a month at most). Start practicing my instruments again, as well as start drawing again, exercise more, and just find a whole bunch of ways to spend the many, many hours of free-time that I'm no longer spending online. I'd still play games, of course, but I'd spend my time playing them much more wisely.

 

[Eamar]

I didn't have internet for a couple of weeks when I moved into a new house, and I actually found it quite refreshing. Read a lot of books.

If it was a more long-term thing though, I think I'd be genuinely upset. Not just because I get a lot of my entertainment from the internet and it's a good way to keep in touch with friends, but because it's a way of having near-instant access to practically all of human knowledge. I absolutely love that I can vaguely wonder about something random and then find the answers online. I've learned so much on the internet, often without even meaning to. And yes, most of the "important" stuff would still be in books and I'd still use them, but I'd really miss the more frivolous stuff - the pop culture trivia, the reviews and blogs, the way the internet can create communities for people with really niche interests that otherwise wouldn't have anyone to share their hobbies with...

I'm not ashamed to admit that I struggle to remember what life was like before the internet, despite the fact that I didn't have internet at home for a large chunk of my childhood.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Kill myself, probably. All my games, movies, music, and books are online. All of my friends are online. A few of my classes have online components. Pretty much the only part of my life that doesn't have some connection to the internet is my job feeding and cleaning up after horses. This isn't really the one part of my life I would want to salvage.

 

[Nouw]

I'd take it as a sign to get my act together and start being more productive!

 

[Genocidicles]

I'd be a bit annoyed at first, because I could no longer browse forums, or do online shopping or have easy access to free pornography and so on but in the long run I think I'd be ok with it... Going back to a world without all this social media bullshit would be great.

And gaming wise, I think the pros outweigh the cons:

New consoles would be made just for gaming. No facebook or netflix integration, no crappy online streaming shit, just games.

Developers would have to focus more on singleplayer, and local multiplayer wouldn't be dying out.

There'd be no always online DRM.

You'd actually own your games.

Developers would be extra careful to check for bugs, because they wouldn't be able to patch them out after release.

No DLC, just expansion packs.

No more shitty spin off MMOs.

I think all of that is worth not having online multiplayer or access to the online modding scene.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

I remember the time before the internet.

I'd play less Pathfinder, and lose some good friends, but I guess I could survive without too much problems.

 

[Heronblade]

To begin with I'd be too busy panicking about the imminent near collapse of critical portions of our infrastructure to care about how it affects my personal life (even though me being laid off is likely one of the effects). Most businesses, my own career included, are currently far too dependent on the internet to function without it, and several vital pieces of business software use network validation to run. Can they adapt? Certainly, it would be a serious blow, but not one that could not be overcome. The real question is whether or not they can adapt quickly enough to avoid an economic collapse, which is unlikely.

 

[Fireaxe]

Well seeing as my job would fly out the window, I'd get to work on a new job which would become known as "fixing the bloody internet".

 

[Hero of Lime]

Be angry and frustrated for a little while, but then I would realize I could be doing more with my life. In the last four years I've become so much more dependent on the internet since we finally got a fast connection instead of dial up. Before that I would only go online if I needed to. I did it before, and I could do it again. I guess it would encourage me to interact with my friends more offline, and find some new ones, plus I still have single player video games which is 99 percent of my library.

That being said, I would not look forward to school, with all the work and research done online, I and most students would have to make a trek to the mysterious library the elders spoke of.

Imagine having to get magazines or find a news source that would tell you about the announcements of video games again, I don't even want to think about it. >.<

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

"Damn, this is a bummer. Classes that use online resources almost exclusively are going to be rather dull today. I guess I'll just read a book or play my handhelds until this gets fixed."

So yeah, my day wouldn't be destroyed. I'd probably still reflexively try to post on the Escapist before remembering the net is down. As time went on, I'd adjust. I'd sorely miss it but I can function without it just fine.

 

[chinangel]

the only way I have to talk to my friends and family is through the internet. I receive my work schedule through the internet. I do most things through the internet.

This would kill me.

 

[blackaddicus]

I personally would not find it that hard to adjust to no Internet.
I would be able to catch up with the list of books that i want to read, however i would find it frustrating that i couldn't access lecture material online for revision purposes.

 

[Multi-Hobbyist]

I guess I'd just enact my innernet contingency plan, i.e. play what games I have downloaded or watch my library of downloaded movies for entertainment, or go back to my writing or coding. Not really all that hard. Plus, just leave the house and hangout at a bud's place.

 

[mistahzig1]

I'd crack open the books I'm currently reading or play with my kids

 

[hermes]

Quite a bummer... I am a software developer, so I would be a lot more worried about the impact on my line of work than whether I lost my facebook updates.

 

[The Funslinger]

Although my social contact would sadly plummet (the disadvantage of taking a gap year and living in a rural area) my productivity would skyrocket.

Hmmm...

Can we try this for a week?

 

[DkLnBr]

I would probably just sit there and stare at my computer screen, I'd be lost without internet. So basically I would be as productive and useful as my modem would be without internet.