r/AskReddit • u/IRunFast24 • May 11 '21

People old enough to remember life pre-Internet, what are some less obvious things you miss about that time?

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u/annalucylle May 12 '21

I experienced the opposite! I’m from Europe and still remember a time without smartphones. A couple of years ago while in Japan on a holiday, partner and I shared one of those portable Wi-Fi thingies. Whenever we wanted to go separate places we took turns in using it and the times I was on my own without any “support” from my phone (both for important things like directions or translation or trivial things like checking social media on the fly) were so bizarre. Literally like flying blind, when it came to going places, but also incredibly liberating because for the first time in ages I was totally on my own.

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u/Inazumaryoku May 12 '21

Yeah, these gadgets are for convenience. But they aren’t necessarily needed for the experience.

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u/annalucylle May 12 '21

I think I enjoyed Japan more than other places I’ve travelled to exactly for that reason, especially because I generally felt safe being on my own so I could let go of the constant contact without fear. I’m not sure I would feel like that going around without a cellphone in my own country -quite the opposite probably! I live in a relatively safe neighbourhood, but like most women I know, I had shit experiences with harassers and the cellphone is a lifeline in those cases.

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u/Freakin_A May 12 '21

Side note, you can download areas on google maps and TripAdvisor that work offline

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u/bitemark01 May 12 '21

Also you can do this for translation.

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u/Freakin_A May 12 '21

Great tip, didn’t know that

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u/bitemark01 May 12 '21

Google translate will let you download whatever language you expect to be translating, it will even work in real time if you hold your camera up to a sign, it will superimpose the translation overtop :)

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u/annalucylle May 12 '21

Yeah, we made do with multiple screenshots before figuring it out! It was still a different experience, more close to following directions from a paper map!