What protects it under the Constitution? Serious question, and what does it take to shut off the internet permanently? By shutting off the internet I am talking about making it not available. Is it one, two or 3,000 satellites? Would the world be better off without internet? No hacks, Identity theft, tracking of personal data etc. We'd lose this platform and others we have come to love, but could we do it again? I know I could. I also realize I love this platform we are on via internet. Right now we do it under the instantaneous results of the internet, back in the day it would have been magazine or TV ads promoting a gathering somewhere weeks or moths away. Could you actually go back to pre-internet days, I know quite a few here do not know them days, but do you think you could give up instant everything just the same?
We don't need a complete shut down. It has improved too many things like banking and paying bills. We could do with at least putting an age restriction on most social media if not shutting those down completely.
This is coming from someone old enough to have served time in the Navy before there were even word processors and way before computers or email so take it for what it’s worth. I have always said that the world was a better place before the internet, but if I really stop and think about it I have to ask “Was it?” In many ways yes, it seemed better. There were no social media platforms. No electronic gadgets for folks to be glued to. The only social networking was done either face to face or actually talking to the other person on a telephone. People were generally more respectful to others because there was no internet anonymity to hide behind. Sure, you could be an opinionated, rude little jerk if you chose to, but the backlash then didn’t come in the form of a torrent of dislikes and mean comments. It came in another form, and you were either man enough to back up your words or else. On the other hand, the world really hasn’t changed that much in my opinion. Even before my time there were big political machines that controlled the media, swayed public opinions controlled elections and basically did what politicians are doing now. The average person was just blissfully unaware of it because it had to make the local news for us to know. There was crime back then too and a lot of it. We just didn't usually know about all of the crime in the world because only the sensational crimes or particularly heinous crimes made the news. If a child was abducted in Florida the rest of the country was usually unaware of it unless it was the child of someone famous. The internet has made our lives much easier but it has also allowed us to see the world as it really is: Full of love but at the same time full of hate. Full of kindness yet also full of cruelty. Full of generosity and also full of selfishness. The list could go on and on. I don’t really think the world was a better place before the internet. I think it just “looked” better from the perspective we had then. As for me, yes. I could go back to a pre-internet world and live a happy life, but it’s just not possible.
The only way to shut down social media now would be to shut down the internet. As to the banking, paying bills and shopping that’s one aspect where life and our individual small parts of the world were better before the internet. It wasn’t difficult to make the trip to the bank to deposit your paycheck and it wasn’t that much trouble to write a check and mail it to pay bills. Oh, it took some time and some actual math to balance your checkbook, but we had the time back then. When we went to the bank to deposit our check or withdraw money we met other people. We interacted with them. When we went to buy clothes or anything else we went to local shops and supported the local economy, and when we went to those stores we met and interacted with others in our communities. There was no Amazon.com. You had to get up and get out and meet people to get anything. That’s something the country has lost and it’s really kind of sad.
I like self imposed shut downs. Once or twice a week keep the phone and internet off. Easier said than done.
My job depends on the internet, and so does many millions or hundreds of millions of others. Short and simple answer is no. We could not go back to pre internet days.
The internet is here to stay. I enjoy the convenience of certain aspects of it. I do think that the rules and regulations pertaining to it need to be looked at. For example, I don't think anyone's constitutional rights should be denied ( ie. free speech and censorship) as well as not allowing the government to use it as a weapon against law abiding citizens. I don't know if that is even possible. The individual has their own choice as to how much they want to use the internet. If they start being offended I suggest they stop using it or at least the parts that offend them.
Free speech and interstate commerce. Not sure the US has a procedure to shut it off, some other countries do (Egypt, China as examples). Shutting it down would require disabling truncs, a combo of telephony /cable / sat links / microwave links and/or routers.
Lest we forget the first social networking media, penpals. I remember going on field trips to meet them after spending a year mailing letters back and forth. Don't remember anything about the meeting, just that it took place at a local state park in 82 or 83. I also remember in 4th grade, 1983, my school buried a time capsule. Everyone brought an item in a sealed container with their names in it and put it in the capsule. I for the life of me can't remember what I put in it or when they were supposed to dig it back up. Can't help but wonder what kinda monetary value that capsule holds in it. All those 70's and 80's action figures, sports cards and hot wheels that you see going for big bucks now.
When the internet first showed up, I think we had a Tandy back then. Hubby said it would end up being the down fall of civilization. I believe he was correct and we are just seeing the beginning of this. Could I go back to pre internet?, absolutely! It's nice learning and sharing but not imperative for me. I'd still find ways to learn and still think of new projects and explore new ideas..
... The gap here is the internet provides you more services than you realize. >80% of US organizations now run their business on cloud based technology...the internet (greatly) makes this possible. Not saying you, per se, but many think of Microsoft as a software company, Amazon or Alibaba as retail web sites or Google as a search engine... They are so much more...
Go back to multiple years worth of invoices, contracts and work orders being stored in file cabinets? No thanks. as Bill mentioned Cloud based storage is nice and how we run these days. I can pull up a contract from ten years ago on my smartphone when arguing with an adjuster on the customers roof and resolve an issue in less than a minute versus gong back to the office to dig through a file cabinet and fax it to the adjuster. Just one small example I know but so very convenient for me. Social media, Facebook, Instagram, OnlyFans and TicTok, is nothing more than self control and/or the lack thereof for most. Evil in pure form. "Brain candy" for weak minds. Virtual pissing contests for idiots. I ditched FB years ago when I saw the path it was taking. Instagram had potential to be nice until Zuckerbot bought it, ditched it too. I like forums and am only on two, this and another. I have friends who think you have to be on FB to do business but have done everything possible to purposely not post pics of their kids or family for whatever reason, I'm not on FB and still do just as much if not more business than they do. Besides being tired of all the "Wokeness" I'm just as tired of all the bs internet research my aunt Theresa does to justify whatever nuttier than a squirrel turd whim is this week.
Ok, so maybe not the internet in totality, how about getting rid of the World Wide Web? Still have smartphones and apps that can link to banking and utilities etc., but the web in essence is gone.
Also goes to show just how screwed we are if China and/or Russia decided it's time for WW III and takes it down.
My only real problem with the Internet are it's human components. Just like most things man touches they figure out a way to **** it up. China and Russia can suck on a dog turd popsicle, guaranteed mutual destruction means they'd have to invade us and no country in it's right mind would take on a task as daunting as that given America's love affair with guns and military. Red Dawn was just a movie.
Hey, ohhhh! Red Dawn was just a great movie. Sent from my SM-G781V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
