I'd say its just businesses and governments that are dependant, most people can get by just fine

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 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The cellular phone network doesn’t require the internet to work.

▲

simonw 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It does require the phone to have battery charge.

	▲	layer8 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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.

▲

bluefirebrand 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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 2 hours ago | parent [-]

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 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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