What do you think would happen if the internet went down worldwide? (screens, how to)

[JustMike77]

Finally those little 10 year old pri&$s would stop beating me in Call of Duty multiplayer.

[Shutout]

I would put on a mask and say very mean things to random people.

[movintime]

I'd get some sleep as others agree, yes? Or workout w/ eyes open rather than sipping coffee on a treadmill at 6am, hehee.

[Wartrace]

If there were absolutely NO electronic communications I would speculate there would be a world wide depression. Sure the personal entertainment issues would be tough for the people addicted to it however our entire economy is based on rapid communications and data transfer.

1) The markets would collapse as liquidity would dry up.
2) There would be a run on banks. When people realized they can no longer pay with debit/credit cards they would withdraw cash to cover payments.
3) Retail sales would plummet. If people can't swipe a card they won't buy.
4) The poor would no longer have access to EBT benefits. Rioting, looting and general chaos is likely.
5) Simple things like making a telephone call would be impossible for many because they have "cut the cord" and use cell phones.

I'm sure there would be many more issues that I am not aware of. I say we would be in depression for a very long time if we no longer had the ability to communicate electronically.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by skinsguy37

I don't think things would be as chaotic as what people claim. We still have existing older infrastructure in place for commerce. It's not like, suddenly, we wouldn't be able to do business, we would just not be able to use the internet to do business. That would, basically, turn into a mild inconvenience after awhile, rather than a major issues. Businesses could still use credit card machines - they still make them where they can either use the internet or a LAN line. They could also revert back to those card swipe carbon paper based machines if they had to. People would have to start carrying more cash - which honestly, would probably curb a lot of senseless overspending that we tend to do because we carry these plastic cards more than actual cash. Online businesses would suffer, but they could convert back to some type of catalog order system. Netflix could send out catalogs of their inventory and be a strictly rent by mail company. They have done that before. Redbox could still be widely used, and maybe video stores would come back to existence. But, definitely local brick and molder stores would thrive, as well as communities that are a bit more rural.

In some ways, it would be a great thing for some areas.

Assuming this scenario is similar to that show Evolution where they somehow lost the use of electricity (but just the public Internet in this case). So basically something happens where the Internet backbone simply disappeared.

I'd see it as somewhere in the middle. There will certainly be some initial chaos - particularly from a social environment standpoint. But parts of our critical infrastructure will also take a hit as Internet connectivity is so infused. It's not like all the older technology is just sitting there and we can simply flip a switch and automatically operate like we were in the 70's or 80's.

Working at a financial institution, we'd mostly be dead in the water as many of our services do rely on Internet connectivity (ACH, Wires, home banking, etc.). Even our ATM network requires an Internet connection. So while we can service customers face to face. Everything else will need to be rebuilt.

My guess would be that a lot of businesses these days are also in the same boat. Sure, you have contingency plans, but they're still using the same technology source. e.g. you have a generator or UPS to avoid the impact of a temporary power outage. But I don't know any BC plan that accounts for the complete disappearance of electricity.

[jamies]

Fortunately when we were mountain climbing in Colorado this summer we had 3-4 bars. I don't know what we would have done had we been out there in the wild and not been able to get online to check email at 13,000 feet.

[crf450ish]

Originally Posted by jamies

fortunately when we were mountain climbing in colorado this summer we had 3-4 bars. I don't know what we would have done had we been out there in the wild and not been able to get online to check email at 13,000 feet.

:d

[skinsguy37]

Originally Posted by LAappraiser

Finally those little 10 year old pri&$s would stop beating me in Call of Duty multiplayer.

LOL!

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by ciceropolo

I'm interpreting this Q as only internet is down but PC's are still in use.
Business / Commerce / Economic:
International trade / commerce would have about a year or two glitch as old ways of doing things get reapplied.
Financial Institutions would bring back many manual processing steps re employing a significant number to process.
USPS would be elated.

I see only one glaring omission in this first portion. As an office worker for the last 15 years I would be moaning and b****ing about having to go back to the old ways of doing business. Other than that, I think you're spot on.

[TurcoLoco]

First off, none of us would be able to come back here to see who had it right!


On a more serious note, many good ones were already mentioned so I'll go with:


Popular web sites name and Internet terminology would no longer be used in daily life, TV shows and movies.

Also, I imagine, most people's computers would remain turned off and start collecting dust too!

I'd have to start using my imagination again when I need to relieve stress.

Playboy would start publishing again! More would be reading the papers, watching TV and going to the movies.

Grand re-opening of BlockBuster perhaps?



Most IT guys would actually have to do the troubleshooting themselves (or be out of a job)!