Internet has many benefits. However, I am becoming increasingly concerned that other ways of communicating, banking, etc. maybe becoming obselete in the not too distant future.
In view of this lets suppose there is a complete breakdown of Internet Providing - what would happen? Maybe some clever geek hacked some very important sites to do with banking and security? It is possible because it has happened. Whose to say that freak weather couldn't reek havoc with internet? These things happen on a small scale already and are put right by people who know these things. What we don't know is all the problems these blips can cause from minor frustration to more serious things that we all know can occur.
When I had a couple of internet lessons I was told not to be afraid of the computer as you couldn't break it. Well maybe not break it exactly but you can give yourself a lot of trouble finding a deleted document. I know some people know so much about internet that they can fix most things but I am really thinking about loss of connection in some kind of holocaust because there seems little back-up now most things are completely internet orientated.
It seem unfair that folk who hate technology and prefer to read a newspaper or talk physically to the bank or book a holiday in an office are becoming increasingly side-tracked and often pay more for the service. The thought of books and newspapers becoming obselete particularly upsets me and in the event of connection failure, what then? I know we still have the choice but it strikes me as very sinister that data and pleasure is now stored on a computer and will one day replace anything physical. Already video is replaced by DVD, we are now almost forced to go HD (I can hardly tell the difference) and it seems everyday some phone is updated making the old one almost obselete overnight. Increasing the public is denied choice and have to replace old technology with new. Why??????

1. The global economy would take a massive, MASSIVE hit. I'm no economic forecaster, of course, but it doesn't take a number-cruncher to recognize the how many companies are reliant on the web to make their profit. Millions would be out of work, and IT workers would find a major part of their expertise circling the drain.

2. There would likely be a sudden pregnancy boom. With so many people finding that their favorite web hobbies are no longer available to them, it's realistic to think that people might start spending more quality time with their significant other's.

3. Support groups would spring up overnight. Facebook withdrawal, coupled with numerous other forms of detox symptoms brought on by internetlessness will bring the weak-spirited to their knees. The mantra "
Hi, my name is [blank], and I lost all my [insert social network here] friends."
will be repeated thousands upon thousands of times. Pills will be popped, alcohol consumed, and coping will ensue. It will be a long, hard process for many.

4. Slowly but surely, people will stop acting like assholes. The internet has always had the unique ability to turn people who would normally be smiling, polite citizens into malicious morons with nothing better to do than berate their fellow man for a difference of opinion. The slower pace of information may also serve to keep people's nerves below boiling point. Without the barrier of anonymity that the internet provides, incidences of flaming should dissipate quickly and be left to the only place it really ever belonged anyway: Parliament.

5. Obesity will gradually decline. Usage of the internet also involves a great deal of sit-on-your-ass-, which means that without it, people will begin to use their legs more often and slowly venture outdoors again. Computers will still be useful for various activities, of course, but the idea of getting up to smell the roses will take hold more easily without the addictive lure of the web.

If you look at the attached map you will see how vulnerable the internet actually is.

Well those two posts already confirm my suspicions of the internet. Does nobody who promotes all use of internet services not share these concerns?
My son got so fed up with his son retiring to his bedroom to use the computer that he banned all devices for a month. What happened? His son became a normal functioning part of the family and actually talked again. However, living out in the sticks his son did say as he had no local friends it was his social life. Fair enough, but there must be a compromise. I believe that the internet is addictive and does lead to emotional stress.
Recently, I didn't use the internet for 2 weeks and I think I was happier without it. So much time is taken up communicating anonymously and getting annoyed with people you rarely if ever see, that it was so refreshing to do other things even though I only use it for a very limited time each day.
I guess there are folk who will exstoll its virtues but the fact is still that if the internet fails through a huge catastrophe we have deleted all other means of communication. Its a worry.

Many of us wonder what life would be like without the Internet, living here in a country village could be really isolated without Internet access, so for us it is essential to get our hands on the keys on a daily basis. We can only access the internet with a dongle and we can't even use Skype because the speed is so slow, so we email very often to communicate with family and friends to avoid the cost of using the phone.

National and International business could not operate without the internet and on line shop sales also depend on it. The UK government in their infinite wisdom are trying to bring the use of cheque books to an end, but figures show that 4 million cheques are written every day, but for the time being have brought a halt in their endeavours in the UK finishing with cheque books. For some reason government departments think that the whole population is only 25 years of age and that everyone has the knowledge to use a computer. They ignore age, accrement, the cost of purchasing a computer and other reasons too long to mention in their quest to run the country from a desk top.

Exactly, but the truth is that the world has survived without the internet. It was perfectly possible to get word out even in the most difficult of circumstances in the past. I know because I lived it as have many others of our generation. My point is that although even I would not deny the convenience of the net, should all the old ways become obselete so if/when it fails in some catastrophe, what happens then? Why do all the old ways have to be done away with?
These days our choices are becoming less and less. It is very worrying that eventually banks want to do away with cheque books for instance. They may become less used but if you have no internet by choice or lack of signal and no credit or debit card what then? I had heard that cash may become obselete in the fullness of time. Possibly we may have no postal service when everyone has been forced to have internet.
It would certainly bring the whole world as we now know it grinding to a halt. What then?
I didn't start this topic for reasons why the internet is useful. We all know it is. My worry is that it could totally fail one day. We already have hacking, fraud, abuse in all forms which seems impossible to stop, so it is not the secure technology we are all told and of course, in bad weather we lose connection. This is small potatoes compared to a holocaust. Looking on the bright side, maybe we won't survive either.