How much do you rely on the internet?

**LowKey** · 07-11-2010, 08:14 PM

While I was searching for some pics for CrimeScene's ID thread, I got to wondering how much you guys depend on the internet for info.

For instance, I have a whole section of a bookcase devoted to plant ID, country living, and food gardening. I could have dug out the book scanned an image for CS and posted it but it was far easier to just look on line and post a link.

Do you print out things you learn here on the forums or online, take notes and print them, write it down, somehow record it other than on your computer? I know I've gotten lazy and am long overdue to sort notes and print them out. Things that get copied to a desktop text program.

Just curious.

**Rick** · 07-11-2010, 08:37 PM

You'd be amazed at how many books I've printed directly from the net. Most of the Army manuals, the Fox Fire series, Wilderness, Remote and Expedition Medicine Concepts, Where the is No Dentist, and on and on.

Most of my news and weather comes from the net. Banking is almost all done over the net. In fact, I'm not certain how I ever operated before the internet.

1988: "Wait. Are you telling me this thing will store 256K worth of data? Seriously?"

**Blasfemo** · 07-11-2010, 08:48 PM

Good question LK, i depend on the internet a lot, my father works in a publishing company so i grow fond of and have LOTS of books but for the most part they are not basic\plant\survival information books. i hardly use any of them, i remember i used a small one about birds to make sure i would not shoot any protected species with my air gun but for the most part i depend on internet for info... i also depend on it for money and for my professional activity...

**LowKey** · 07-11-2010, 08:57 PM

The other part of the question should be, what would you do if there was no longer an internet?

Rick, you must have kept your printer company happy. That's a lot of ink!

**Justin Case** · 07-11-2010, 09:04 PM

I depend on it heavy for research, Weather, Directions, The skies the limit, I have very few books. dont need them , Its all right here, without I/net, I would be screwed in the research dept. Good Question !

**Blasfemo** · 07-11-2010, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by LowKey

The other part of the question should be, what would you do if there was no longer an internet?

i would be useless since i have very limited skills... i have been making a buck but so far i blew it all in more internet assets or trying to get stuff i could not have before... im working on alternatives its just not easy when you never went to the military, never made any manual labour and you dont own family land.... i did not finish Uni so in the workforce i can only get something like restaurant boy, construction slave work, or temporary supermarket job, very low income jobs... in a nutshell if no internet no nothing for me.... of course i have been doing other stuff like workshops for middle age unemployed people with net, "how to make money on the net" i charge a fee and i preach several simple concepts on how to make money from your blog, site, home and so on but even that is not viable if no internet is present lol...

Originally Posted by Rick

1988: "Wait. Are you telling me this thing will store 256K worth of data? Seriously?"

i dont think i ever saw something that small

i was like 7 at the time and we didnt even had portable 2kg phones let alone internet for civil use...

**LowKey** · 07-11-2010, 09:25 PM

So Justin, could you 'survive' in a world without internet? If there is even a minor break in public utilities (phone/electrical) you would be without you main survival reference, right?

**Justin Case** · 07-11-2010, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by LowKey

So Justin, could you 'survive' in a world without internet? If there is even a minor break in public utilities (phone/electrical) you would be without you main survival reference, right?

Absolutely, except for whats in my head, I have learned a lot , I also feel I retain more in a setting such as this forum, I enjoy this interaction more than reading a book, so I absorb more i think. But Yes, I could survive without it, But would rather not.

**Batch** · 07-11-2010, 10:37 PM

My first computer was a TSR-80 with 4K RAM. It had a tape deck for storage (the hard drive) and ran Color Basic. I read several thousand books between then and when I bought my next computer in the late 90's.

I would check out about 7 books at a time on various subjects from the library and would usually go to the library ever two weeks or so. Sometimes more frequently.

**seeker1968** · 07-11-2010, 11:14 PM

It's the only place I get my news. I don't trust the soon to be government controlled, corporate controlled media. Even so I try to verify.

I also have a commitment to myself not to brainwash myself any more, by this I mean watch commercials on TV. So I use the internet for shows I watch.....

**doug1980** · 07-11-2010, 11:46 PM

I didn't start using the net until 2006 but use it for many things now. News, weather, banking, info, networking etc. Now my parents and my younger brother still have no internet. I'm not sure they could even turn on a computer.

**your_comforting_company** · 07-12-2010, 06:19 AM

I guess you could call me a "high-tech caveman", because I rely a great deal on the internet for information that would otherwise be very expensive (buying tons of books) or very hard to find (nobody around here does anything primitive, no teachers)
I am slowly acquiring a physical database of books, which I also realize that I cannot take all with me.
Ultimately, my best source, should the infrastructure fail, will be my memory and what few books I can carry, along with all the other stuff that is necessary.

I appreciate the internet and use it to my advantage, but should I find myself without it, would I "survive".... Well, I wouldn't have much choice, would I?

**Rick** · 07-12-2010, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Lowkey

Rick, you must have kept your printer company happy. That's a lot of ink!

I have. I printed some of the stuff out and put it in a 3 ring binder. That material is in my BOB. I also have it stored on a portable hard drive to use with my laptop if things got really bad. The important stuff is on paper, however, just in case.

**Justin Case** · 07-12-2010, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by Rick

The important stuff is on paper, however, just in case.

Great, Glad to hear it, Keep up the good work

**Alaskan Survivalist** · 07-12-2010, 09:37 AM

Marine weather and current events. Finding info on uncommon products. I still prefer books for most knowledge. Anybody can put anthing on the internet and is unreliable source of knowledge so developing a list of sites you trust is needed but even then I think most people just choose sites that give them what they want to hear. I just started using computers 3 or 4 years ago. I have made several thousand dollars internet gambling with the free money they give you. I would never bet my money on line gambling but betting thier money thier is no way to loose unless you have a gambling problem. I have to really bored to do that and almost always wind up loosing thier money but I have gotten lucky a few times. I can't say I really depend on the internet but it is a convenience and a form of entertainment.

**Rick** · 07-12-2010, 09:40 AM

Online gambling is chump change. I go for the Nigerian bank accounts where folks have died. Those things are worth millions!!! The way I figure it, I must be worth over $26 Billion by now. Those Nigerians sure are friendly folks. Wonder how they all know me?

**Blasfemo** · 07-12-2010, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Alaskan Survivalist

I still prefer books for most knowledge. Anybody can put anthing on the internet and is unreliable source of knowledge so developing a list of sites you trust is needed but even then I think most people just choose sites that give them what they want to hear.

oh boy your so right!! i had a formation on internet and message noise from a user point of view and thats Exactly how the users come to places\sites they get bookmarked\regualr, most times not because of the useful\truthful info but because it fits their previous expectation, being a webmaster this was a big time revelation to me, now i am not so honest in my reviews and i can say for a fact i get more sales.... the human stupidity never ceases to amaze me...

**rwc1969** · 07-12-2010, 02:08 PM

I rely heavily on the internet, mostly for work, school, and personal business related stuff.

In fact, it would be almost impossible to get passing grades without the internet at home. You must have interent access and an email account in order to participate in most classes. It's a requirement.

I also use it to study everything else from auto repair to zoology. It's amazing how easy it is to become a "virtual expert" at something without ever having done it.

It sure makes the experience of actually doing it much more palatable.

**Ole WV Coot** · 07-12-2010, 04:00 PM

Banking, pay bills(haven't bought a stamp in yrs), shopping(great when you live out in the boonies) I seldom go to the library and haven't bought a book in a long, long time just for starters.