How hard was it to be "informed" before the internet?

In My Humble Opinion
1

(maybe a GQ but won’t risk the relocation)

I’m only 25, so the internet has been around most of my adult years. I can’t imagine life without the constant flow of information I receive on everything - instant news, sports, facts/debates (straight dope), and a TON of news/information you’d never find on most TV shows or newspapers.

So, how difficult was it to be ‘informed’ before the internet? How did one keep up to date - solely through CNN and the morning newspapers? Where did one go for intelligent debates, or ask Straight Dope-type questions? Was it even remotely possible to be as informed as we are today?

2

I saw an interview with Susan Sontag on televsion recently. She said that when she first had cancer, over twenty years ago, she would ask other cancer patients about their treatment. Most of them didn’t know even the basic facts, like which drugs the doctors were giving them. Within the last few years, she was stricken with cancer again. This time around, her fellow patients were much more better informed than they had been twenty years ago. Ms. Sontag credits the Internet for making medical information more available to the general public.
The question you pose is a very good one. I’m about your age, and I have to remind myself from time to time that this sort of thing, even ten years ago, was just beginning to fall into the hands of the general public, myself included.

3

I’m a little over double your age. Information on the internet is a lot easier to get. In fact, some info simply wasn’t available to the ordinary person “In The Day”. But, you do have to use your own judgement as to what is good info and what isn’t.
In fact, I’d say that the internet is somewhat more useful to us oldsters than to the youngsters.
Peace,
mangeorge

4

I’m probably around mangeorge’s age, and before my access to the 'net, I consumed large quantities of newsprint and magazines, and still had access to only a fraction of what I get now. I also visited libraries (particularly those at Rice University and the University of Houston), and before the Web, those were the goldmines.

While there’s lots of info available on the Internet, there’s far less peer review per character-mile, so wariness is advised.

5

I’m 36. The first time I actually logged on to the internet was about 10 years ago. Internet shopping and a couple of crap websites written by people who for the most part only talked about what I already knew from books while trying to sell me something. Dalnet was worth it though (even though I was really upset with my wife when I found out that she was “dialing” to England for 8 hours to talk to somebody across the street, thinking about the phone bill, until she explained it to me).

And then all of a sudden, something exploded and anything you wanted to know was on the net. A detailed encyclopedia at my command! I became a net junkie. About then, I found mapquest and wondered how in hell I found anything up to that point. It was a great time. Yellow pages that told me exactly how to get where I wanted to go without a phone call and a pencil. The internet is the greatest thing that was ever put into play! The internet is a great learning tool!

Today, I’m a bit jaded in a way. Now, everyone and their brother has a website, and with a few clicks of a mouse, you can believe/find out/prove anything you want depending on what you are looking for, not to mention the amount of work you have to go through to find credible information. For example, I did some “old time” torture method research years ago in both the library and the internet, and got a lot of great information from credible sources. Today, if you do a websearch, you get overloaded. Why? Because now, with the internet, everyone is writer because they wrote a two page short story, be it opinion or an erotic paragraph (which I’m all for, it just gets annoying when you are looking for facts and have to sift through a ton of crap).

Along the lines of what mangeorge said, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Everyone is a genius with access to google. Take away the computer, and you can find out very quickly who has a brain. Don’t believe everything you see just because it is on the net. A cite is only as good as the person/company that wrote it as well as your ability to filter out the BS. I’ll believe a guy that I know who works in DNA research over a “cite” written by… who? First hand knowledge and experience is always more valid than a cite by IamGreat@blowme.com (I made that up). If I have a question about blackpowder revolvers, I’ll email Ruger or Colt before I buy into some crap I see on the net, as well as emailing Padeye or JohnnyLA before I do a net search, because to me, based on their past posts compared to what I know from basically reliable sources and or experience, they have proven their expertise from something other than websites written by what could be a 12 year old idiot.

Today, common sense comes into play. The internet is a bar. You have to have a gift of figuring out who is on the level and who is full of crap. If you are an idiot, the internet will not help you. If you have more than half a brain, the internet is a cool thing. To me though, the best thing about the internet is still mapquest. I’m at a loss to explain how I ever lived without it.

6

I’m 36. The first time I actually logged on to the internet was about 10 years ago. Internet shopping and a couple of crap websites written by people who for the most part only talked about what I already knew from books while trying to sell me something. Dalnet was worth it though (even though I was really upset with my wife when I found out that she was “dialing” to England for 8 hours to talk to somebody across the street, thinking about the phone bill, until she explained it to me).

And then all of a sudden, something exploded and anything you wanted to know was on the net. A detailed encyclopedia at my command! I became a net junkie. About then, I found mapquest and wondered how in hell I found anything up to that point. It was a great time. Yellow pages that told me exactly how to get where I wanted to go without a phone call and a pencil. The internet is the greatest thing that was ever put into play! The internet is a great learning tool!

Today, I’m a bit jaded in a way. Now, everyone and their brother has a website, and with a few clicks of a mouse, you can believe/find out/prove anything you want depending on what you are looking for, not to mention the amount of work you have to go through to find credible information. For example, I did some “old time” torture method research years ago in both the library and the internet, and got a lot of great information from credible sources. Today, if you do a websearch, you get overloaded. Why? Because now, with the internet, everyone is writer because they wrote a two page short story, be it opinion or an erotic paragraph (which I’m all for, it just gets annoying when you are looking for facts and have to sift through a ton of crap).

Along the lines of what mangeorge said, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Everyone is a genius with access to google. Take away the computer, and you can find out very quickly who has a brain. Don’t believe everything you see just because it is on the net. A cite is only as good as the person/company that wrote it as well as your ability to filter out the BS. I’ll believe a guy that I know who works in DNA research over a “cite” written by… who? First hand knowledge and experience is always more valid than a cite by IamGreat@blowme.com (I made that up). If I have a question about blackpowder revolvers, I’ll email Ruger or Colt before I buy into some crap I see on the net, as well as emailing Padeye or JohnnyLA before I do a net search, because to me, based on their past posts compared to what I know from basically reliable sources and or experience, they have proven their expertise from something other than websites written by what could be a 12 year old idiot.

Today, common sense comes into play. The internet is a bar. You have to have a gift of figuring out who is on the level and who is full of crap. If you are an idiot, the internet will not help you. If you have more than half a brain, the internet is a cool thing. To me though, the best thing about the internet is still mapquest. I’m at a loss to explain how I ever lived without it.

7

I’m 36. The first time I actually logged on to the internet was about 10 years ago. Internet shopping and a couple of crap websites written by people who for the most part only talked about what I already knew from books while trying to sell me something. Dalnet was worth it though (even though I was really upset with my wife when I found out that she was “dialing” to England for 8 hours to talk to somebody across the street, thinking about the phone bill, until she explained it to me).

And then all of a sudden, something exploded and anything you wanted to know was on the net. A detailed encyclopedia at my command! I became a net junkie. About then, I found mapquest and wondered how in hell I found anything up to that point. It was a great time. Yellow pages that told me exactly how to get where I wanted to go without a phone call and a pencil. The internet is the greatest thing that was ever put into play! The internet is a great learning tool!

Today, I’m a bit jaded in a way. Now, everyone and their brother has a website, and with a few clicks of a mouse, you can believe/find out/prove anything you want depending on what you are looking for, not to mention the amount of work you have to go through to find credible information. For example, I did some “old time” torture method research years ago in both the library and the internet, and got a lot of great information from credible sources. Today, if you do a websearch, you get overloaded. Why? Because now, with the internet, everyone is writer because they wrote a two page short story, be it opinion or an erotic paragraph (which I’m all for, it just gets annoying when you are looking for facts and have to sift through a ton of crap).

Along the lines of what mangeorge said, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Everyone is a genius with access to google. Take away the computer, and you can find out very quickly who has a brain. Don’t believe everything you see just because it is on the net. A cite is only as good as the person/company that wrote it as well as your ability to filter out the BS. I’ll believe a guy that I know who works in DNA research over a “cite” written by… who? First hand knowledge and experience is always more valid than a cite by IamGreat@blowme.com (I made that up). If I have a question about blackpowder revolvers, I’ll email Ruger or Colt before I buy into some crap I see on the net, as well as emailing Padeye or JohnnyLA before I do a net search, because to me, based on their past posts compared to what I know from basically reliable sources and or experience, they have proven their expertise from something other than websites written by what could be a 12 year old idiot.

Today, common sense comes into play. The internet is a bar. You have to have a gift of figuring out who is on the level and who is full of crap. If you are an idiot, the internet will not help you. If you have more than half a brain, the internet is a cool thing. To me though, the best thing about the internet is still mapquest. I’m at a loss to explain how I ever lived without it.

8

I’m 36. The first time I actually logged on to the internet was about 10 years ago. Internet shopping and a couple of crap websites written by people who for the most part only talked about what I already knew from books while trying to sell me something. Dalnet was worth it though (even though I was really upset with my wife when I found out that she was “dialing” to England for 8 hours to talk to somebody across the street, thinking about the phone bill, until she explained it to me).

And then all of a sudden, something exploded and anything you wanted to know was on the net. A detailed encyclopedia at my command! I became a net junkie. About then, I found mapquest and wondered how in hell I found anything up to that point. It was a great time. Yellow pages that told me exactly how to get where I wanted to go without a phone call and a pencil. The internet is the greatest thing that was ever put into play! The internet is a great learning tool!

Today, I’m a bit jaded in a way. Now, everyone and their brother has a website, and with a few clicks of a mouse, you can believe/find out/prove anything you want depending on what you are looking for, not to mention the amount of work you have to go through to find credible information. For example, I did some “old time” torture method research years ago in both the library and the internet, and got a lot of great information from credible sources. Today, if you do a websearch, you get overloaded. Why? Because now, with the internet, everyone is writer because they wrote a two page short story, be it opinion or an erotic paragraph (which I’m all for, it just gets annoying when you are looking for facts and have to sift through a ton of crap).

Along the lines of what mangeorge said, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Everyone is a genius with access to google. Take away the computer, and you can find out very quickly who has a brain. Don’t believe everything you see just because it is on the net. A cite is only as good as the person/company that wrote it as well as your ability to filter out the BS. I’ll believe a guy that I know who works in DNA research over a “cite” written by… who? First hand knowledge and experience is always more valid than a cite by IamGreat@blowme.com (I made that up). If I have a question about blackpowder revolvers, I’ll email Ruger or Colt before I buy into some crap I see on the net, as well as emailing Padeye or JohnnyLA before I do a net search, because to me, based on their past posts compared to what I know from basically reliable sources and or experience, they have proven their expertise from something other than websites written by what could be a 12 year old idiot.

Today, common sense comes into play. The internet is a bar. You have to have a gift of figuring out who is on the level and who is full of crap. If you are an idiot, the internet will not help you. If you have more than half a brain, the internet is a cool thing. To me though, the best thing about the internet is still mapquest. I’m at a loss to explain how I ever lived without it.

9

Just 32 more times, comon!

10

I had to laugh when I read the first post. CNN has only been around since 1980. I remember when it launched all the “serious” newscasters thought it would never make it because no one was really interested in that much news, lol.

When I was growing up in Atlanta we had three television stations, two morning newspapers, and an evening newspaper. When I was at college my resources were the libraries. If we had a burning question we’d post it on a bulletin board. We had fabulous real time conversations. I felt extremely informed.

Now what I mostly feel is a bombardment of pointless information. Have you noticed how much “news” is actually speculation and guessing? You may be totally informed but what is the end result of all that information?

I do enjoy being able to do research whenever the mood strikes, but I’ve found that in many instances the information I want isn’t found, and I have to go to a Library. When my 14 year old needed to read Al Gore’s nomination acceptance speech we couldn’t find it anywhere. In the end we had to dig through the recycling and find the week old paper where it was printed.

11

We read newspapers (the NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today have had national editions for several decades now), books, and magazines; we watched television; we looked things up in a dictionary, encyclopedia, almanac, or atlas; and we went to the library.

12

Just generally, I have found that while the internet is good for getting a general grip on anything and everything (based mainly on referrals from people on message board), it is still pretty poor for finding specific facts.

13

Well, Bob, I’m your age but I’m in the same camp as Ringo.

I was always in the school library reading the morning newspapers and monthly magazines to keep up on the times.

I was also one of the last people in my group of friends to get the Internet at home, and I really didn’t pay all that much attention to it until about two years ago when I started sitting at a desk all day at work.

Call me old fashioned, I guess.

14

What is meant by “informed” may have also varied over time.

Learning things and getting a question answered was not as easy, but relative to the expectations was not THAT hard. It was a question of libraries, libraries, libraries, specially those in colleges and those where I could get my hands on less-common, smaller-circulation periodicals or foreign-published materials; and bookstores, bookstores, bookstores, be they general-interest, specialty/professional, or “alternative”. Plus attendance to lectures, conferences, etc. open to the public, and being selective about the media I listened to/watched (a worldband radio helped) and a circle of well-informed people to bounce ideas off. 20 years ago I could lay my hands on quite a bit of both valuable information AND mindless blather, it just required more instances of actually getting dressed, going outside, and spending cash.

Throughout the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, people who were confused about what was the Straight Dope about anything would write an actual letter to Cecil, and one or at most two a week would get an answer, wherein he would set them straight and correct their initial misconception in an amusing manner. Today all those people may use Google which in seconds directs them to 20 sites where said initial misconception is reinforced and affirmed as sanctioned by Jesus himself with an absolutely straight face; or if lucky they find Snopes.

There are some who wax a bit nostalgic for the days when there was some “editorial judgement” as to what information was disseminated in “reliable outlets”… but still, more access is a good thing. In the end people who lack the ability to critically judge what they read would just as likely be taken in by print BS as by web BS .

15

Does anyone remember the term “information super-highway?”

16

I would say that there’s only so much time you may spend informing yourself. When you spend one hour reading something on the net, it’s hour you don’t spend reading, say, a good newspaper. The amount of information absorbed during this hour is roughly the same. So, the real question is : is the net a better source for infos than papers, books, magazines, etc…(I very rarely watch TV)?
The main advantage of the net is that you can find infos on very obscure topics in a heartbeat, something you would have been unable to do without extensive researchs before. It’s very convenient.
The main issue is that on the overall, the infos available on the net are less reliable and of lesser interest than the infos gathered in good books, papers, etc…
One could eliminate this problem by carefully selecting the sources one is using on the net. The problem is that the a lot of things are quite attractive, interesting, exciting…and easy to access to. So, I tend to read a lot of stuff on the net that are of inferior informative value, or that I wouldn’t have considered reading by lack of interest before. And as I wrote before, there’s only so much time you can spend reading. For instance, I read a lot of posts here today (and posted some), but very few of them were really informative. Meanwhile, I didn’t read an excellent book about Chinese history which is just beside my desk.
In other words, the issue is the addiction factor. Very similar, I think, to TV for other people. I could put the net to great use and expand my knowledge a lot by using it sparingly and wisely. But I don’t. And on the overall, it had a negative impact on me. I think I’m less well-informed (in particular about current events) and I clearly learn less things since i’m using the net (for the record, since 1998). The only exception being that I’m much more informed about the US.
Like other things, it’s a very useful tool if you use it wisely.

17

I too am double the age of the OP.

Before the Internet, being informed was having a well stocked reference library which included a good set of fairly up-to-date encyclopedias; a couple of weekly news magazines; at least one newspaper subscription; specialty magazines for areas of interest; and of course access to a good local public library.

Having said that, there is no comparison between the information I could get my hands on then vs now via the Internet.

For example, even researching a place to vacation almost required the use of a travel agent. Nowdays I can do the research and book a resort almost anywhere in the world all by myself. And arrange the flights and car rental. All online.

Another example: My mother died a few weeks ago. She had a rare infection. Before the Internet I would’ve only been able to get the normal vague explanation from a harried doctor. With the Internet I could massive amounts of information from reputable sites.

18

“Take away the computer”
Don’t you ever say anything like that again, Turbo Dog. Especially not four freakin’ times. :wink:

19

I couldn’t help but think that the Internet also does a very good job of keeping people misinformed.

20

Any source of information can do that, hermann. You gotta use your branes.