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What questions do you have for folks older than you? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 6 days ago by dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

54 comments fedilink hide all child comments

been thinking about all the little moments tucked away in my memories that are a world unknowable to those younger than me, so consider this an opportunity to reminisce over old times, but also to ask those about the times you did not live through.

I guess my question for those older than me is: before computers, how did you learn to do something?

Did access to knowledge change your life, was a constraint lifted when you no longer depended on having found the right books or people to learn tips on how to cook a new dish, or how to fix a plumbing problem, or how to plant a garden?

Was life more simple, did you have fewer problems to solve without technology in your life, or did technology make life easier?

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[–] nitrolife@rekabu.ru 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I just went to libraries and asked my friends for information.

By the way, the internet didn't suddenly become filled with all the knowledge in the world. The first internet pages were like personal blogs filled with not-so-useful information. In those days, the internet was similar to today's darknet. Google was just starting out, and there was no search engine as such. As a result, people just shared websites with each other. The current internet is the result of millions of people's efforts to fill it with information. So, having access to the internet didn't change my life overnight.

But we used to buy collections of websites and data on CDs when CD-ROMs first became available, and that was pretty fun.

UPD: and at some point, people started exchanging data through modem calls, and that's how fidonet was born. It was a whole cultural layer where you could get an address and slowly receive newsletters and exchange data through late-night calls to sisops. It was like a prehistoric torrent, but instead of pirating, you were exchanging data.

[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Remember webrings? You would find webpage you liked and they would have webring links to similar sites the author found and liked. It was pretty basic but it worked.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webring