What If They Turned Off the Internet? 511
theodp writes "It's the not-too-distant future. They've turned off the Internet. After the riots have settled down and the withdrawal symptoms have faded, how would you cope? Cracked.com asked readers to Photoshop what life would be like in an Internet-addicted society learning to cope without it. Better hope it never happens, or be prepared for dry-erase message boards, carrier pigeon-powered Twitter, block-long lines to get into adult video shops, door-to-door Rickrolling, Lolcats on Broadway, and $199.99 CDs."
Re:Riots? You've got to be kidding. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:(And now with more Pants!) (Score:3, Informative)
google found it [slashdot.org]
Re:It's not so bad. (Score:3, Informative)
So, the question is: has the underlying fabric of mainstream society changed since pre-internet days, to such a great extent that society would fall apart without the internet? I'd say no way.
Open up your wallet.
EVERYTHING but the cash is linked to the internet in some way or another for its vital function.
Driver's License? The police officer checks it over the internet against records that essentially only exist digitally on the internet.
Checkbook? When you write a check, the payee deposits it in his bank, who gives her funds drawn from the federal reserve over the internet, then sends an image of the check to your central bank over the internet, which then contacts your branch and updates your balance over the internet.
Credit Card? Just as bad as checks, except that you can't give someone a signed document with it if they don't have the internet to call up and enter it into.
Insurance card? Just as bad as credit cards, but without that government middleman. And a company with a fiduciary duty to not pay for your healthcare if it can at all avoid it.
And that's just in a typical wallet. We're not even talking about air traffic control, gasoline distribution, package shipping, or international communications. (Which reminds me: if the internet goes down, so does every regional or long-distance telephone system. And cell phones. And VoIP.)