Can you picture your life without your computer?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I bought my first computer in 1995. That was almost 30 years ago. Now, I get up have breakfast and then play on my computer. I have 2, and an iPhone. My normal routine. Since you're in this group, you've got a computer. How long have you had it, and can you picture your life without your computer?
 

I've had computers since 1997 but used them since 1983. I've been through a bunch, of course, and phones. Yes, I could picture my life without a computer. It would be different, that's all and I would probably miss my internet buddies and getting info in a second on any subject.
 

I can picture it yes.. because I didn't have one for the first 40 years of my life.. would I want to do that again ?.. absolutely not, especially now as I don't go out every day to work, and in the evenings for entertainment...

I don't want to do without my computer, my iphone, my Ipad... or any other tech I have... I want my life to be easier in my older age.. not harder.. as was the case for my grandmothers generation...

I really wish sometime s that my mum and my granny ( mum died in '73 granny in '82) could come back and see all this and enjoy it...
 
I repaired large tactical mainframe computers in the military (not for Internet access) before I even had a personal computer.
Bought an IBM Aptiva in '96 and had dial-up with AOL. My first impression was, "Is there anything on the Internet outside of AOL?"
I lived over 40yrs without a personal computer ... so yes, I know how to live without one, but would likely miss it.
 
My computer allows me to do business and make money with my wholesale and retail sales. It also lets me do research to find new products that I can sell to my customers . And of course, it lets me contribute here. Jimb.
 
Naturally said:
I repaired large tactical mainframe computers in the military (not for Internet access) before I even had a personal computer.
Bought an IBM Aptiva in '96 and had dial-up with AOL. My first impression was, "Is there anything on the Internet outside of AOL?"
I lived over 40yrs without a personal computer ... so yes, I know how to live without one, but would likely miss it.
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remember all those AOL discs..?.. every other week there would be a new one ..

I kept loads of them unopened because back in the 2000's.. an eminent antique dealer said that future antiques would not be about furniture and art as it is today but will be about Disposable items.. things people just routinely throw away...
 
I bought my first 386 PC in the 1980s, and I don't remember exactly when, but it had a 40 MB Hard Disk, and we didn't have Windows to begin with. I bought it because at work I was working on a logistics computer with six workplaces, which had a Winchester Hard Disk with 40 MB the size of a shoebox and ran on Unix OS.

Computers give a false sense of security, and my son, who is self-employed in IT, is sceptical that it will continue forever. He encourages me to make photobooks and print out important information. He uses large (paper) notebooks to store important information and loves to write with a fountain pen, just as I do.

If we lost computers, life would become very complicated because we have become so reliant on them. I am annoyed when an airline forces me to check in online, especially when the app is jumping about due to advertising. Life would need more effort, but perhaps we would concentrate on essentials.
 
I bought my first home computer in 1979. I bought the first available XT computer from IBM. I had no idea at the time just what that would mean in global terms, nor that it would become my life's work. And now, since I'm out of the loop, I see it going leaps and bounds beyond my understanding, it's quite something.

Could I do without a computer? No. Absolutely not. And I'm talking a desktop computer here. I'll have one until the very end. It's a marvel of our generation, something that transformed every single aspect of our society. But these days, it just allows me to play around, and be entertained.
 
Stoppelmann said:
I bought my first 386 PC in the 1980s, and I don't remember exactly when, but it had a 40 MB Hard Disk, and we didn't have Windows to begin with. I bought it because at work I was working on a logistics computer with six workplaces, which had a Winchester Hard Disk with 40 MB the size of a shoebox and ran on Unix OS.

Computers give a false sense of security, and my son, who is self-employed in IT, is sceptical that it will continue forever. He encourages me to make photobooks and print out important information. He uses large (paper) notebooks to store important information and loves to write with a fountain pen, just as I do.

If we lost computers, life would become very complicated because we have become so reliant on them. I am annoyed when an airline forces me to check in online, especially when the app is jumping about due to advertising. Life would need more effort, but perhaps we would concentrate on essentials.
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I seriously doubt we'd do well without computers. There's no putting the genie back in the bottle. They will, I believe, indeed be with us forever. Eventually, they will take us to other planets.
 
I got my first computer in 2000. It's a desktop PC. I've replaced it twice. I got this one in 2016 or '17.

I have internet on my phone but I very rarely access the intrawebs from my phone. It's too tiny and awkward and frustrating.

Not having my PC would mean I'd have to drive a lot more, make more phone calls and send more texts, and probably boredom.

I would adjust to the boredom, though. There are things I could be doing if I wasn't sitting here.
 
VaughanJB said:
Eventually, they will take us to other planets.
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Do you believe in reincarnation? I doubt that "we" will go anywhere but into the ground like everybody before us.

I have thought about what computers might do for the well-being of any future generation going into space—I believe that taking nature with them is far more important. You see, I don't believe that space travel is feasible. First of all, there is the distance and the time needed. Secondly, putting people to sleep doesn't prevent bedsores. Thirdly, reaching a new planet with its own microbes will mean that our bodies will need a long time to adjust, but also, the new habitat may suffer our microbes like indigenous people did when our ancestors occupied their lands. Computers can't help us with these few examples - except if it is computers or robots we send into space.

Star Trek and Star Wars are fiction, as are the many other sci-fi novels. I used to be a geek, but once you become a nurse and understand what it takes to preserve health on our planet, the feasibility of life on another planet becomes very doubtful indeed.
 
Like others here, I could adjust without a computer. I grew up without one, so I know what it's like. It means more work to get what I want (no online ordering, etc.) and the convenience of a number of things will be missing.

A few years ago, when we had the year 2000 scare, my husband and I had prepared for life without a computer. So, it doesn't hurt to be prepared in case we cannot use a computer. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and other catastrophes can affect power structure and ultimately, people's lives, so that they cannot access their computers. They have survived.
 
I think my first computer was in the mid-90's at work. I got a personal computer in the late 90's. I still have my work computer from when I retired in 2020. I check the stock market, the weather and my emails every morning. I use my Apple Macbook for anything that is more personal, like this forum.

I could live without my computer, but it sure would be inconvenient. I can't imagine not being able to look up anything or having to call an 800 number and sit on hold.
 
I had a TI99/4a and a Commodore 64 in the 80's. They were fun, but really just toys. In '93 I bought a custom built 386 from a local computer shop. I upgraded it several times with processors, RAM, hard drives, sound and video cards, and motherboards. my first modem was 2400 baud that I used to connect with local bulletin boards via phone line. My first connection to the internet was with a 56K modem. It was all text, no browser yet.

I'm on my fourth PC now, a Lenovo. It's nine years old. The only thing I've done to it is add some RAM and replace the hard drive with a bigger one. Now, computers are just appliances like toasters or TV's. So, some of the fun is gone. But, I've come to depend on it and the internet so much that I would be lost without it.
 
My first PC was a Wang computer in 1988. I signed up for Prodigy then also. I too would be lost without one these days but I could live without it if I had to. But I am glad that I spent the first part of my life without one. i
 
No, I’m not sure I could exist. First home computer was in the early 90s. Used it at work in the mid/late eighties.
 

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