'Before the internet' pretty much coincides with 'when I was a kid' for me. I would love to hear 'before the internet' memories from people who were adults before the internet too.
Here's one from the "damn, that sucked" side: literature research. I spent days in libraries, digging through various indexes (that is, lots of large and heavy books) and taking notes. Then finding journals, and making copies on temperamental photocopy machines. Or "printing" from microfilm. And requesting stuff through inter-library loan.
I actually enjoyed all of that, and still occasionally spend time pouring through the stacks. Right up until the "making copies" part. It goes very quickly (instantly?) downhill from there.
I definitely get more out of physical paper where I can book mark, dog ear, underline, highlight and write in the margins than I've ever gotten from a digital copy. Except for the searching.
I don't think we'll ever have a great hybrid, but pairing the two together is the way to go.
Inter-branch loans haven't changed. I'm on 3 months now still waiting for one.
Yeah, same here. What's especially sweet is the focus on ~clueless tween memories. And how it evokes that protective isolation from the "real world" that some children enjoyed. Mainly privileged children, but that's forgivable in a New Yorker article.
That's gone now. I totally can't imagine how it is for kids now. I mean, I would be in such deep shit by my mid 20s.