A look at how the Internet and World Wide Web have changed our life styles over the past 40 years.

1. Wednesday 12 March
was
25th Anniversary of the World Wide Web
On March 12th, 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee put forth a
proposal to make information sharing possible over
computers, using nodes and links to create a "web" that
would eventually stretch worldwide and become the
modern internet.

2. The development of the World Wide Web changed
the world we live in. Since its introduction 25 years
ago personal and professional lives have never been
the same.
It changed the way we work
It changed the way we communicate
It changed the way we shop
It changed the way we find information
It changed the way we learn

3. Without the internet, there would be no smartphones, laptop
computers, or tablets - at least, not the way they're used now. In
fact, most of the tools we use to work at home or on the road
would be non-existent.
From creating entirely new jobs to allowing other occupations
to move out of the office, the web has changed the way we
work. Over 30 million people now work at home at least once a
week, in part because the internet makes it possible to do
many jobs from anywhere there's an internet connection.

4. In 2012, 33 million adults used the internet daily, compared with 16
million in 2006, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) . Over
the same period, the percentage of people who say they never use the
internet more than halved, from 36 per cent in 2006 to 16 per cent last
year.
The most popular online activities were:
Sending and receiving email (73 per cent), followed by
Researching goods and services and reading the news.
Social networking - almost half of adults - 48 per cent - said they
use a site.
For those aged between 16 and 24, the percentage was 87 per
cent, making social networking the most popular online activity for
that age group.
Another growing online activity was telephone and video calling,
with the percentage of adults saying they had used the internet for
voice or video calls doubling from 16 per cent in 2009 to 32 per
cent last year.
“British internet users double in six years” – source Daily Telegraph 13 March 2014

5. So what was life like
before the Internet,
Digital technology
and the World Wide Web?

6. Before the Internet. T.V was a popular source of electronic entertainment.
Pre Internet TV was very different to the flat screen digital technology we have now.
In the 70’s and most of the 80’s we only had 3 channels.
BBC1, BBC2 and ITV
Channel 4 was launched in 1982 and was considered a big step forward in TV
entertainment.
TV stopped broadcasting at 12 midnight.
Daytime T.V was unheard of back then
and often you would see the “Test Card”
image on your T.V in the middle of the
day.
The first video recorders were
considered a major breakthrough.
For the first time we were able to record
and re watch our favourite shows.

7. Mobile phones were introduced to the consumer market in the early 80’s.
However; they were big, bulky, heavy and incredibly expensive.
They only worked in certain big cities and were prominently
used by high powered business people,
often paid for by their companies.

8. If you wanted to make a call
while you were away from
home.
You had to use a
PUBLIC PAYPHONE
These were often
vandalised and out of order!

9. We can access information online instantly.
We are now the generation of instant information
without having to leave the house.
What did we do before information Gurus like
GOOGLE?
People went to Library's and searched through
shelves and catalogues of information.
Students were encouraged to buy Encyclopaedias.
If you wanted to buy antiques ebay didn’t exist,
you had to write to a company for a sales list and
often by the time it reached you the item was
sold!

10. Before the digital and smartphone cameras.
Photographic technology was not instant.
You would send your reel of film away and it
could take anything up to three weeks to be
processed.
The waiting time became shorter as high
street shops offered a 1 hour processing
service.
The first instant cameras were big and bulky
containing a mini lab within the camera.
The photo would take 60 seconds to develop.
Although the photo was instant, the quality
was compromised.

11. Booking flights and holidays on the internet is
an easy and convenient process.
Before the internet people went to travel agents
who did the booking for you.
You would search your desired holiday using
brochures.
To speed up the process the booking could be
made via the telephone, but you still had to
wait for the post.
You can now even print out your ticket instantly
and even choose your seat.
E commerce has now made holiday booking
administration almost a thing of the past.

12. The concept of downloading music was something of
Science Fiction movies in the 70’s and early 80’s.
Music was bought on vinyl or cassette. These were the
two major consumer formats for many years.
To make music more mobile playback devices were
made smaller and the when the first Sony Walkman was
developed it was the biggest selling item of its time.
Unlike modern day iPods and MP3 players that can hold
a catalogue of music that can be accessed at the touch
of a button, the Walkman simply played 1 single
cassette and skipping from one track to another took a
lot of time and battery power.

13. The only similarity to internet shopping and
pre internet shopping was the fact that
both could be done at home.
In the pre-internet days people would use
catalogues to choose their items and order
them via the post or telephone.
However; unlike todays internet shopping,
you were limited to just one or two
companies and were unable to make quick
price comparisons.
Shopping for items abroad for a better deal
was virtually impossible.
This proves that todays e-commerce is truly
a global market.

15. Pre internet electronic games were very popular in the 70’s and 80’s.
Often designed with a simply electronic circuit run by batteries, these games made
popular Christmas presents and were the envy of every child who owned one.
One of the most popular pre internet games on the
market was SIMON.
This was the MUST HAVE gadget of that time.
Other games included PACMAN, SPACE INVADERS
and OPERATION.

16. Before internet social networking:
People were encouraged to have a few “Pen Pals”
Pen pals were often people of your own age, from abroad, who you
wrote to using traditional postal methods on a monthly basis.
This form of communication was not instant and letter could take
anything up to 2 weeks to be received.

17. For more instant communication with friends
Young people joined local “Youth Clubs”
Here you could play sports, listen to music,
and chat with your friends in “Real Time”.