3 ms·

In my non-tech circle, most people don't even realize how the internet is running literally everything. Even if we start to use mass scale AI for something, the

• jacobgold 4mo ago
  "They at best turn on the TV to watch netflix or look at the phone to send messages on whatsapp. If all of that went away tomorrow, they'd be inconvenienced at best and then go on with their day to day life." I'm not saying it is a good thing, but this is completely out of touch with how dependent (most) people are on these technologies.
  • mawadev 4mo ago
    I'd say its just businesses and governments that are dependant, most people can get by just fine
    • simonw 4mo ago
      A lot of people are genuinely stranded if their phone runs out of battery. How do they pull up a map, or call an Uber, or phone someone to pick them up?
      • layer8 4mo ago
        The cellular phone network doesn’t require the internet to work.
        • simonw 4mo ago
          It does require the phone to have battery charge.
          • layer8 4mo ago
            The context was “Everyone does use the internet for everything today” and “most people don't even realize how the internet is running literally everything”. You don’t need the internet for your phone to have a battery charge.
            • inigyou 4mo ago
              They were providing some illustrative examples: most people rely on the internet for maps. If they don't have internet (because their battery is flat) they can't do xyz.
              • layer8 4mo ago
                I was referring to the claim that they couldn't phone someone to pick them up.
      • bluefirebrand 4mo ago
        I'm not sure the point you're trying to make. This was true before cell phones too. People didn't carry maps everywhere. What's the difference between then and now? Pay phones, basically? Physical maps being available in public places more readily?
        • simonw 4mo ago
          The argument here is "most people can get by just fine" without access to the internet. I tried to pick an obvious example to illustrate how that's not true. The difference is that, prior to everyone having a smart phone, people had backups for if they ran into trouble. They might simply not go somewhere that they might have trouble returning from. They sorted out their travel plans in advance - someone to pick them up from a location at a time. They memorized phone numbers so they could call from a pay phone if they needed to. They carried cash or a cheque book to pay for cabs.
          • bluefirebrand 4mo ago
            Fair enough. I suppose a better argument would be "people can learn to get by just fine without the internet if they have to" But you're definitely right. We become pretty reliant pretty quickly. I think that should be concerning with the way technology is trending in society