” It is not a dream. It’s the Internet ». These are the words Neal Conan spoke on Morning Edition radio 30 years ago.
On this date was born the “www” (World Wide Web), the Internet as we know it today, open to all. Neal Conan then explained:
Imagine being able to communicate with 10 million people all over the world at the same time. Imagine having direct access to catalogs from hundreds of libraries or the latest news, business or weather information. Imagine being able to access medical advice or gardening tips from experts around the world in an instant.
For the younger generations, it is difficult to perceive what the Internet has brought to our daily lives. So good boomer who is the author of these lines, here a glimpse of life before the internet.
Amazon did not exist
© Lemon Squeezer / Unsplash / Tom Hermans
Before the arrival of the Internet, consumption was mainly done in physical stores. Online shopping did not exist, and consumers had to go to stores to purchase products. Advertisements on television, in newspapers and in magazines were the main sources of product information.
Remote purchases were made by telephone or by correspondence, but this was limited to certain categories of products, such as clothing (the La Redoute catalog, you know), household items or cosmetics. Remote purchases were often more expensive due to shipping, handling and processing fees.
The world of books revolved around bookstores. Amazon didn’t exist, neither did the digital book. So we went to his bookstore to buy the latest literary releases.
We went to the cinema and we rented DVDs
© Unsplash / Krists Luhaers
Before the internet, streaming platforms like Netflix did not exist. The American giant was already a hit in the United States with its home DVD rental service.
But at the time, to watch the latest films, you had to go to the cinema. Ticket prices remained more affordable than those practiced today.
A few months after the theatrical releases, you could also go to your favorite video club to rent the latest DVDs. According to the offers of the video club, you could rent a DVD for 2 to 4 euros per DVD.
Most of the market favored the film industry, more than the series, reserved for live television (the Saturday evening trilogy on M6, a classic) or cable channels.
The pornographic content was reserved for adult channels, forming part of a TV package on the cable channels. They were also available on DVD for rent, but reserved for those over 18 years old.
We bought CDs to listen to the music
© Unsplash / Stelios Kazazis
Before the internet, Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music were still unknown to the battalion. To listen to music, we listened to music on physical media: vinyl, cassettes and then CDs.
We therefore bought his music individually (the famous 2-track CDs or singles) or by album. So we paid for each piece of music or each album. The playlists were best of albums (summer hits for example).
To listen to all this, it was necessary to multiply the media: a hi-fi system at home, a car radio in the car, a Walkmann on the move.
Teachers and books, sources of knowledge
© Lemon squeezer
If there is one area in which the Internet has brought the most, it is that of education/research.
before internet, learning or research required hours of work just to build a bibliography. In almost every home there was at least one encyclopedia before CD formats were introduced to PCs. A Larousse or Robert dictionary was essential for working. And if, for economic reasons, we couldn’t afford an encyclopedia, we lent it to each other to carry out our research.
Another solution: libraries. Before the advent of the Internet, they were the nerve center of all research. A meeting point for individual or group work. In colleges and high schools, we worked on the CDI with the help of librarians. We are a long way from ChatGPT and others.
Hey Manu, are you coming down?!
© Lemon squeezer
The Internet has profoundly transformed the way we communicate. Before his advent, no emails, social networks or instant messaging applications.
To communicate we called or, later, we sent a text messagewith a character limit (which gave rise to the famous T9 language).
For professional or administrative communications, a fax was used or letters were sent. We also sent love letters to our other half and postcards to our family when we went on vacation.
To find his friends, we would knock on their door or call them at the bottom of their window: “Hey Manu, are you going down!? And why do ? “.
Yes, the internet has really changed the world. Often for better, sometimes for worse. Or vice versa, depending on your point of view.
So, did you know this time?
