What would happen in the states if we lost the internet...

[Harpy Eagle]

just curious, how many people's lives would be changed if we lost the connection to the world...

Everyone's. The country would come to a standstill.

 

[Nate]

Not bpms, bps. Bits per seco

My apologies, kid got me a "mechanical" keyboard recently. DRIVING me nuts! Anyway, explain how you were pulling off 300bps on 2 wire.

 

[Vrenn]

What good would a 56k modem be without a provider though?

Citizens are fully reliant on the internet now, the Communication Age is upon us.

People like me used to be the providers. I hosted a multi lined BBS which means, it had 10 incoming phone lines and one outgoing one for message base exchange (fore runner to Email). With your modem, you called one of the incoming lines, logged in and presto. You have messages, games, file downloads and more. The Internet didn't invent all these things. It just found a different way of doing it. The BBS was invented to be used by the Military before the Internet was created. And the BBS did everything that a ISP could do as well. The Graphics weren't nearly as good for the most part.

If the Internet was suddenly lost (like a huge network attack) then the phone lines and the BBS is a viable alternative.

 

[Vrenn]

My apologies, kid got me a "mechanical" keyboard recently. DRIVING me nuts! Anyway, explain how you were pulling off 300bps on 2 wire.

Bpms, is that where your 56K modem would default back to a 300 baud 5 days in the month?

 

[Nate]

Bpms, is that where your 56K modem would default back to a 300 baud 5 days in the month?

The way my instructor phrased it was 56k was like a shotgun where 2 barrels would blow down the line then the info coming back would roll around the bits on the copper wire. It was dirty but made it viable.

Curiosity sake, can we get back to the original question? How would life be like now with the loss of Internet?

 

[Dekster]

I've been thinking about this when my tiny little town lost their connectivity a couple weeks ago. My household seemed to freeze up, from the wife to the kid seemed to have nothing to do, almost went blank faced! I decided to look up how many U.S. citizens rely on the internet. It got spooky;


If The Internet Shutdown For a Day, What Would Happen?


Just curious, how many people's lives would be changed if we lost the connection to the world...

Mine would change drastically just because I do so much virtual office-ing from home. Cellphones and internet are wonderful tools. Only downside is that they can be a massive timesuck too.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

My apologies, kid got me a "mechanical" keyboard recently. DRIVING me nuts! Anyway, explain how you were pulling off 300bps on 2 wire.

I'm having a very difficult time understanding why you find this at all improbable.

The Bell 103 protocol was one of the very earliest protocols for digital communications over standard telephone lines, and it operated at 300 bits per second. As far as I know, the only slower protocol was Bell 101, which was only 110 bps.

In the very earliest days, the telephone company wouldn't even let you connect you own equipment to their phone lines, so many very early modems were acoustically-coupled. You dialed the call on your phone, then put the handset on the modem. And yes, these usually ran at 300 bps, though some older only went 110 bps.

 

[Vrenn]

The way my instructor phrased it was 56k was like a shotgun where 2 barrels would blow down the line then the info coming back would roll around the bits on the copper wire. It was dirty but made it viable.

Curiosity sake, can we get back to the original question? How would life be like now with the loss of Internet?

Complete Chaos in the younger crowd who completely depends on it for everything. I include Cell Phones as part of the Internet. Can you imagine just being able to call out and in on your cell phone? Shades of 2G and back.

 

[Nate]

I'm having a very difficult time understanding why you find this at all improbable.

The Bell 103 protocol was one of the very earliest protocols for digital communications over standard telephone lines, and it operated at 300 bits per second. As far as I know, the only slower protocol was Bell 101, which was only 110 bps.

In the very earliest days, the telephone company wouldn't even let you connect you own equipment to their phone lines, so many very early modems were acoustically-coupled. You dialed the call on your phone, then put the handset on the modem. And yes, these usually ran at 300 bps, though some older only went 110 bps.

View attachment 672964View attachment 672965

That's the issue. I'm not talking about "when, what, was." I'm talking about now. I don't think you could hook that up to todays line and get the same information that you did when that was the "high tech." With this thread, I'm saying most would be lost...

 

[shockedcanadian]

People like me used to be the providers. I hosted a multi lined BBS which means, it had 10 incoming phone lines and one outgoing one for message base exchange (fore runner to Email). With your modem, you called one of the incoming lines, logged in and presto. You have messages, games, file downloads and more. The Internet didn't invent all these things. It just found a different way of doing it. The BBS was invented to be used by the Military before the Internet was created. And the BBS did everything that a ISP could do as well. The Graphics weren't nearly as good for the most part.

If the Internet was suddenly lost (like a huge network attack) then the phone lines and the BBS is a viable alternative.

Cool stuff. So it would essentially be private servers of peer-to-peer file transferring/direct communication and such?

All in DOS I presume or some proprietary government software.

 

[Vrenn]

Cool stuff. So it would essentially be private servers of peer-to-peer file transferring/direct communication and such?

All in DOS I presume or some proprietary government software.

Actually, I own the rights to us a full blown server BBS called Mustang. It's been a ton of years since I fired it up. But it allows the various Internet Browzers to be used and includes email service as well as private messaging. And you can even access the DOS games through your browser it you have the Mustang Navigator installed.

Mustang has the ability to work as an IP server or a Modem Server using 56K modems. It handles files, email, message bases, and even dialups using modems. But it ain't free.

I also can setup a Searchlight BBS that can do both IP and modem. lt's DOS mostly but handles everything the Mustang does, it just doesn't do it as purty. I can setup a IP Server with a HTML page to access the Telnet and it works. Or you can have your own Telnet Client (preferred method).

If the Internet were to go away for any reason, I imagine I might fire up 10 or more modems and lines and go back into the BBS business. With Mustang, the users won't be able to tell the difference since almost everything is done HTML. But using Searchlight, one would have to get used to DOS. I really don't foresee that becoming a reality. Thar be Billions in the Internet.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

My apologies, meant "Favorite" reacitonist. No matter what you comment on, you look at it in the best light.

Thank you.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[TheParser]

Just curious, how many people's lives would be changed if we lost the connection to the world...

I guess that the supermarkets would allow telephone ordering if their websites were down.

I guess that restaurants would allow telephone ordering if the food delivery websites were down.

Without the Internet, it would be especially difficult for me because I do not have a smartphone. So I could not download the various apps of supermarkets & restaurants.


And, of course, I could not receive or send email.

 

[Nate]

I guess that the supermarkets would allow telephone ordering if their websites were down.

I guess that restaurants would allow telephone ordering if the food delivery websites were down.

Without the Internet, it would be especially difficult for me because I do not have a smartphone. So I could not download the various apps of supermarkets & restaurants.


And, of course, I could not receive or send email.

How many people this day and age have a land line? Out of those I know, not many...

 

[Vrenn]

I guess that the supermarkets would allow telephone ordering if their websites were down.

I guess that restaurants would allow telephone ordering if the food delivery websites were down.

Without the Internet, it would be especially difficult for me because I do not have a smartphone. So I could not download the various apps of supermarkets & restaurants.


And, of course, I could not receive or send email.

No internet and no Apps like delivery websites, online ordering and more. Smart Phones would be dumber than a box of rock. Not Rocks, just Rock. You use the Internet to download and transport those apps. Since you don't use a smart phone, you might be able to call in and out but the problem is, most of even that is reliant on the internet. Landlines would be the only thing left. And you would lose your Cable TV so break out the outside antennae.

 

[whitehall]

Blank faced?

 

[Yarddog]

The way my instructor phrased it was 56k was like a shotgun where 2 barrels would blow down the line then the info coming back would roll around the bits on the copper wire. It was dirty but made it viable.

Curiosity sake, can we get back to the original question? How would life be like now with the loss of Internet?

fishing more often, more projects in the garage , discover new family members you didnt know existed in the house. of course down side is not being able to look up how to do things on Youtube

 

[Bob Blaylock]

That's the issue. I'm not talking about "when, what, was." I'm talking about now. I don't think you could hook that up to todays line and get the same information that you did when that was the "high tech." With this thread, I'm saying most would be lost...

We seem to be completely failing to understand each other.

All I am getting is that somehow, you believe it is unrealistic to get three hundred bits per second over an old-fashioned POTS phone line; when, in fact, such a speed over that medium represents something very close to the bottom of what was ever done with modem technology.

 

[Blues Man]

I've been thinking about this when my tiny little town lost their connectivity a couple weeks ago. My household seemed to freeze up, from the wife to the kid seemed to have nothing to do, almost went blank faced! I decided to look up how many U.S. citizens rely on the internet. It got spooky;


If The Internet Shutdown For a Day, What Would Happen?


Just curious, how many people's lives would be changed if we lost the connection to the world...

I wouldmn't mind.

Just think we would have people actually talking to each other instated of them all staring at their phones 24\7

 

[TheParser]

How many people this day and age have a land line? Out of those I know, not many...

I am 85.

We have two land lines.

I have a flip phone, which I use only when I leave the house. I use it for emergencies or to call for a ride. (There is a service for us old people without smartphones. It will call Uber or Lyft for us. COVID has almost destroyed the taxi industry here in Los Angeles, so I can no longer depend on taxi service. Very sad!)