Pre-Internet, people got a lot of review from magazines. Consumer Reports was unique at that time for not accepting advertising on products it reviewed and it's

Pre-Internet, people got a lot of review from magazines. Consumer Reports was unique at that time for not accepting advertising on products it reviewed and it's still somewhat unique that way. I think whether someone got advice from friends pre-Internet varied by what you were buying. Your friends couldn't tell what type of professional speakers to buy, for example unless they were musicians and then they likely had arbitrary biases.