It has occurred to me that without the internet the handling of the Covid Epidemic is unlikely to have occurred the way it did. It is possible that there still could have been mass lock downs more or less simultaneously around the world without the internet, but it seems unlikely. Workers could not work from home. Anything and everything couldn’t be ordered online. Would masks have even happened? How about mRNA vaccines? Could the hysteria mongers have stirred up sufficient mass panic? I wonder. Orson Welles radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” is sometimes said to have started mass panic. But as I understand, it was never as extensive and did not last as long as the Covid panic. Of course, if I have heard correctly, the government and radio did try to deescalate that. I have a suspicion that without the internet Covid would have been treated more like the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. Of course there would have been differences, since it is a different era, but perhaps the differences wouldn’t have been so extreme. One thing that seems to me was mostly ignored, was how much of the pandemic was spread by airlines that did not stop flying, even if their passenger numbers were greatly reduced. Passenger jet air travel wasn’t well established when the 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu occurred. Viewing the US and European skies on Flightaware when the pandemic first started displayed a mass of flights over both Europe and the USA. However, after only a few weeks most of the flights over Europe were stopped, the number of flight were sparse, and remained reduced. Over the USA the flights never seemed to decrease. They probably did decrease but not so much that it was very observably different to me, as was the case in Europe.
Internet's Effect on Covid Response
It is possible that there still could have been mass lock downs more or less simultaneously around the world without the internet, but it seems unlikely.
Workers could not work from home.
Anything and everything couldn’t be ordered online.
Would masks have even happened?
How about mRNA vaccines?
Could the hysteria mongers have stirred up sufficient mass panic?
I wonder. Orson Welles radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” is sometimes said to have started mass panic. But as I understand, it was never as extensive and did not last as long as the Covid panic. Of course, if I have heard correctly, the government and radio did try to deescalate that.
I have a suspicion that without the internet Covid would have been treated more like the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. Of course there would have been differences, since it is a different era, but perhaps the differences wouldn’t have been so extreme.
One thing that seems to me was mostly ignored, was how much of the pandemic was spread by airlines that did not stop flying, even if their passenger numbers were greatly reduced.
Passenger jet air travel wasn’t well established when the 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu occurred.
Viewing the US and European skies on Flightaware when the pandemic first started displayed a mass of flights over both Europe and the USA. However, after only a few weeks most of the flights over Europe were stopped, the number of flight were sparse, and remained reduced.
Over the USA the flights never seemed to decrease. They probably did decrease but not so much that it was very observably different to me, as was the case in Europe.