25 Things People Did BEFORE CELL PHONES You Won't Believe

cellphones have revolutionized how people do pretty much everything they've made life much faster more convenient and more connected they help friends and family talk from far distances over video chat there are also great for getting information about the hottest restaurants reserving in air B&B or requesting an uber to get right at home cell phones have become so integral to everyone's lives it's easy to forget what people used to do before they were around which raises the question what was life like before cellphones it's likely today's kids have no idea what life was like before cell phones were invented well let me enlighten you I'm Michael this 25 and here are 25 things people did before cellphones you won't believe 25 used actual cameras today it seems like only serious photographers use actual cameras to take pictures everyone else uses their cell phone however before cellphones everyone used a camera whether digital analogue or disposable to take pictures you had to lug around another device 24 listen to music on CDs or mp3 players music streaming straight from the Internet has become the popular source of music today but back before the internet was readily available and depending on how far back you go people used CDs and mp3 players to listen to music you couldn't just pick whatever song you want it at any given moment 23 owned road maps it might be hard to believe but when traveling for our distances people bought physical maps like those huge Rand McNally Maps to help them get to a certain destination rather than a computer's voice kindly telling dad where to go it was likely your mom holding a map and yelling at him 22 asked for directions when the physical map failed to get a person where they wanted to go especially in rural farm towns are confusing cities people tended to find nearest gas station and ask for directions 21 checked email on the computer only checking email on a phone is a novelty taken for granted before smartphones most people check their email on the computer only during the dial-up days that meant waiting for your modem to make a hideous noise before logging into your email client only to discover you got one email from your grandma 20 calculated tips manually few people had calculators at the ready when going to restaurants so when they need to figure out how much to tip the waiter they utilize their brain power to calculate the amount it was a magical time 19 use the ATM to check a bank balance online banking simply wasn't a thing for a long time to know your balance you had to manage your checkbook register like a hawk or go to an ATM it's no surprise that finding out you were broke at an ATM screen was no less devastating 18 used real taxis before cellphones hailing a random person to pick you up was called hitchhiking and it was also mostly illegal and also pretty dangerous instead you hailed a taxi on the street or called for one on the phone 17 played board games granted people still play board games today but honestly it's usually when their cell service isn't very good and there's nothing else to do for many families and communities board game nights were a frequent and much-anticipated event that either foster bonding or resulted in a shouting match 16 used hard cash then no paypal Apple pay and tons of other options have made it virtually easy to pay anyone you want through the internet but in the beforetime you had to resort to using cold hard cash to pay your neighbor's kid for mowing your lawn or to tip the pizza guy at the door 15 use the phone as a phone the phone was a phone before cellphones that's all people used it for it connected to the wall with an extremely long extendable cord that teenage girls got wrapped up in when they their boyfriends for hours all day 14 posted unfiltered pictures people win on Facebook and Twitter on their computers and posted unfiltered pictures as is no elaborate filter no emojis or graphic art just the picture it was a beautiful time 13 played video games on a gameboy before cellphones people played mobile video games on a Nintendo Gameboy or maybe a Sega Game Gear there weren't any in-app purchases or banner ads just an incredibly difficult game that made you want to throw the gameboy up against a wall it was amazing 12 used an answering machine remember texting didn't really exist before cellphones so when people expected a call from someone but weren't around they could trust on their handy-dandy answering machine to record it for them 11 used pay phones quick you're walking down the street in a big city and suddenly realize you have to call home cell phones don't exist yet what do you do the answer of course is to use a payphone these relics of your used to be on every city block you toss in a quarter and could make a call understandably no one really misses them 10 stayed committed to things arguably flaking out on the commitment is much easier today than it was before cell phones today you can tell a friend you're gonna help them move and then a week later shoot them a text saying you'd rather stay home and binge watch Game of Thrones before cellphones you'd actually have to call them up and tell them suffering through the disappointment their voice or their yelling in your ear 9 memorized phone numbers since people didn't have a phone on them at any given moment they had to rely on their memories to keep track of phone numbers most people had at least 10 different phone numbers memorized for various people in their life for everyone else they might have kept a tiny black phone book or a rolodex aid felt genuinely alone when someone sat in their bedroom by themselves without a computer television or cell phone they were genuinely alone they couldn't alleviate it quickly checking their feed they dealt with it by listening to music reading a book or doing some other hobby 7 use the phone book smart phones provide a slew of apps to give us the information we need about businesses restaurants addresses and neighborhoods before all that you excavated a massive yellow tome called the phone book and flip through it like Gandalf researching if library of Gondor six use 3-way calling 3-way calling was kind of a big deal before cell phones people didn't just talk to one person on the phone but to this revolutionary communication service was so cool until cell phones and texting happened five tied up the home phone line in the evening hours the home phone was a valuable commodity plenty of fights and family meetings ensued over it trying to come to a decision on when it could be used and how no one was allowed to tie up the phone for several hours talking to friends for went outside people kids especially utilized the outside world like they just discovered Narnia for the first time kids rode bikes around the neighborhood for hours went to the playground and played games in their backyard 3sat patiently when people went to a doctor's appointment or required to sit quietly for long periods of time they just sat patiently and remain occasionally they might read a magazine or book if it was available but for the most part they just sat and waited to use their imagination often when school's out and the summer days got especially boring kids pulled out their best toy their imagination they'd make up worlds be able to entertain themselves and be creative for hours and hours until dinnertime one made eye contact not only did people go out to more social events but when they shook your hand and talked to you they looked you in the eye so what else did you used to do before cellphones let us know in the comments below or tweet your answer to us at list 25 enjoying our lists be sure to click that subscribe button on the bottom right and the notification bells so you don't miss out on new ones every Monday through Friday share them with friends and help us consistently conciliate curiosity and if you want even more lists check out these videos here or 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Keywords: List25, list 25, top 10, top 25, things people did before cell phones you won't believe, things people did before cell phones, activities before cell phones, before cell phones, without cell phones, time before cell phones, games without cell phones, kids without cell phones, kids before cell phones, time without cell phones, throwback before cell phones, life before cell phones, family before cell phones, friends before cell phones

Id: TfIkwm-EPeg

Length: 9min 5sec (545 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 30 2018