Alternate History: What if the Internet didn't exist?

We all know it.
We all use it.
We all love it.

So...

What if the Internet didn't exist?

Thanks to this YouTube video, created as a collaboration between Alternate History Hub and StepBack History (both great YouTube channels by the way!), you'll find out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tszFFafk8pA&t=19s

We'd all be happier. People would get along more.

People would have more and better friends.

There is so much more to the internet than the social aspects of it....so I would honestly despise a world without the internet. There'd be an extreme lack of information available at one's fingertips, libraries would become too crowded....the internet has made it more straightforward for us to research things, and we can cite a wide range of websites just to make sure we're correct with our findings.

If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't be able to do things like tie my shoes and tie (learned both online, because watching someone doesn't cut it), look into my favorite TV shows or, heck, pass the time by watching funny videos of things you wouldn't see on a DVD.

Heck...even considering the social aspects, the internet can do people some good if it's used efficiently. There are people out there who probably look to the virtual world in order to talk to people they probably aren't likely to meet in the real world. A vast range of different personalities that make up the world come together online and interact with one another. It's fun, in some ways, because it's like you can make virtual connections with people you will most likely never meet in your lifetime, but can get to know this way.

I'm thinking that soon enough, the world would feel like it was 'missing something.' Some extremely clever people would have probably come up with a solution before others decided they weren't satisfied with what the real world had to offer.
Basically, I wouldn't have anywhere to go to after school if the Internet didn't exist. I rely on it for both important things, and fun things. There are, of course, dangers involved with the Internet, which I wish could be sorted out, such as viruses and inappropriate content. But, had you been a smart person, you would've simply avoided those problems like they weren't there. The Internet is a BIG place, and if you're a newcomer to technology, there are many things to do on it. So there you go.

I'd be mentally sane.

well sattelite tv would be popular so the world would be automatically 1 million times better

There would be no streaming, no Amazon, no computers, and DvDs would still be very popular. Simple.

If there's one thing we humans are particularly bad at, it's predicting the future. Look back one-hundred years, and ask yourself if but five people on the planet at that time could have had the foresight to imagine where we are today: robots traveling into the depths of space; men walking on the Moon; computers the size of your palm; the capability for instantaneous communication with anyone, anywhere on the globe; modern medicine.

Most people subscribe to the progressive view of history, which (as I understand it) argues that all of history has been built for this moment, and therefore if a certain major event did not come about one way, it most certainly would have to have come about another way. But it's only possible to ever say that in hindsight. The things that seem inevitable now – World War II, the internet, electricity, the United States, your very existence – they were never foreordained. (Unless you subscribe to certain religious views, but that's a completely different topic.)

I'm not saying some of you are wrong, but imagining that you'd somehow be missing the internet if it had never been invented, is quite frankly, impossible. Your life would be filled up with a myriad of other things. :)

I would have a lot of friends.

I think I'd hate it. The internet is my place to unwind and talk with people that actually have similar interests to me. Pretty much everyone outside my friend circle has zero similarities to me. (And I find them shallow and uninteresting)

Shopping Malls would still be popular, because online shopping does not exist.

Online gaming would be console based, and would require a telephone line like X-Band modem or Sega MegaNet, a cable subscription like the Sega Channel, or a satellite like the Nintendo/St. Giga BS-X Satellaview.

Netflix would not exist, so video rental stores would still be profitable.

I would benefit by getting more exercise from walking through the mall all day, looking at the all the kiosk and storefront displays.

New shopping malls would continue to be built due to high demand for the newest products in this alternate reality.

People would subscribe to a 1,000 channel satellite TV service.

To those who would think they'd hate this alternate timeline, I'd rather look at the positives more than the negatives. I feel as if the alternate 2000s all the way to 2017 would feel like an extension of the late 1980s-early 1990s.

Nintendo Power would still be a thing.

SpongeBobfan1987 said:

Shopping Malls would still be popular, because online shopping does not exist.

Online gaming would be console based, and would require a telephone line like X-Band modem or Sega MegaNet, a cable subscription like the Sega Channel, or a satellite like the Nintendo/St. Giga BS-X Satellaview.

Netflix would not exist, so video rental stores would still be profitable.

I would benefit by getting more exercise from walking through the mall all day, looking at the all the kiosk and storefront displays.

New shopping malls would continue to be built due to high demand for the newest products in this alternate reality.

People would subscribe to a 1,000 channel satellite TV service.

To those who would think they'd hate this alternate timeline, I'd rather look at the positives more than the negatives. I feel as if the alternate 2000s all the way to 2017 would feel like an extension of the late 1980s-early 1990s.

Click to expand...

actually i wish that was the real timeline

No more memes. =O

Come to think of it, I could be very happy in a world with no internet.

that doesn't make any sense because we'd still have computers and the world wide web would be thought of still

President Squidward said:

that doesn't make any sense because we'd still have computers and the world wide web would be thought of still

Click to expand...

Trust me. It makes perfect sense. If the Internet is not released to the general public by the mid-1990s, there would not be a reason for Tim Berners-Lee to invent the World Wide Web.

uhh,,,well there's the argument of "if it never existed, you wouldn't even care!" But...
i still find it hard to imagine a world without internet. i dunno. the internet has allowed me to be myself (i act a lot different IRL because of how shy and quiet i am) and ive met a lot of amazing people because of it too. i guess if the internet didn't exist, i'd still have video games, so i could probably live without the internet...? but i still find it hard to think about.

I'm antisocial af in real life, so the internet is a great way for me to make friends without them judging me for my appearance or if I accidentally scare someone off because of some of the things I might say. Taking away the internet would make me lonely and sad, and I'd hate to see a world that doesn't have it.

By the way, when people say we'd be happier without the internet it kinda angers me, since it's my escape and real life is kinda crap right now for me.

SpongeBobfan1987 said:

Shopping Malls would still be popular, because online shopping does not exist.

Online gaming would be console based, and would require a telephone line like X-Band modem or Sega MegaNet, a cable subscription like the Sega Channel, or a satellite like the Nintendo/St. Giga BS-X Satellaview.

Netflix would not exist, so video rental stores would still be profitable.

I would benefit by getting more exercise from walking through the mall all day, looking at the all the kiosk and storefront displays.

New shopping malls would continue to be built due to high demand for the newest products in this alternate reality.

People would subscribe to a 1,000 channel satellite TV service.

To those who would think they'd hate this alternate timeline, I'd rather look at the positives more than the negatives. I feel as if the alternate 2000s all the way to 2017 would feel like an extension of the late 1980s-early 1990s.

Click to expand...

Netflix was a video rental store at one point so......take that out.

Shopping malls are still really popular, even with online shopping, many people trust it more.

And if the internet didn't exist, then you wouldn't be asking that question.