What would you do for a living if computers didn't exist?

[user1397]

A fun exercise to think about. What would you do? Or for those who don't rely on computers for their income (do those even exist anymore?!), what hobbies would you take up instead of all the time we spend on computers and tech.

I am not completely sure what I'd do, but I think I would've probably studied history and perhaps become a history professor as that subject interests me possibly most of all.

[tech291083]

I would probably go mental. But as an option, I would become some sort of freelance technology writer for a newspaper etc, basically focusing on cutting edge innovations in traditional engineering. Would love to visit such state of the art facilities if any, many can only dream of.

Option 2 would be to study astronomy.

Thanks. Nice thread.

[shantiq]

those who don't rely on computers for their income

not sure how many of us do here rely on them user1397 ... personally i do not.... I only use them for fun and learning :] but the world was DULLER BC [before computers]


artist .... so with or without

[mastablasta]

Or for those who don't rely on computers for their income (do those even exist anymore?!),

there are plenty jobs that do not involve a computer at all. computers make things faster and imporve efficiency, but you can still do things without them only slower. i am in sales and they used ot do it all on paper -track stocks and such. orders cam ein through fax machine or regular mail. sales is one such area where you actualyl od not need a computer to make a good deal. it just helps a lot of have lal info at the tip of the fingers.

then you have various manual workers that do not use computer at work, various craftsmen... i mean you absolutelly do not need a computer to build a house, fix the plumbing, renovate bathroom, install kitchen... moving away from manual labour, you have plenty fo people that do not need a computer at work like teachers, nursery room guardians (?!), judges, doctors...

why do you assume that everyone needs or uses a computer at work? many workers use them for convenience on many jobs or for some bureocracy but they are not really necessary.

[RichardET]

probably a math teacher, or a theatre stage manager.

[user1397]

there are plenty jobs that do not involve a computer at all. computers make things faster and imporve efficiency, but you can still do things without them only slower. i am in sales and they used ot do it all on paper -track stocks and such. orders cam ein through fax machine or regular mail. sales is one such area where you actualyl od not need a computer to make a good deal. it just helps a lot of have lal info at the tip of the fingers.

then you have various manual workers that do not use computer at work, various craftsmen... i mean you absolutelly do not need a computer to build a house, fix the plumbing, renovate bathroom, install kitchen... moving away from manual labour, you have plenty fo people that do not need a computer at work like teachers, nursery room guardians (?!), judges, doctors...

why do you assume that everyone needs or uses a computer at work? many workers use them for convenience on many jobs or for some bureocracy but they are not really necessary.
Well I meant that in a playful way, obviously there are some jobs out there that do not require computers at all. That being said, there is a difference between a job not requiring a computer in theory and how it actually works in practice in the real world.


In your examples, in the real world all of these jobs use computers in some way.


- Sales use computers for their point-of-sale software and databases for inventory tracking, etc.


- The construction worker doesn't need a computer to make a kitchen, true; but the contractor is sure using a computer to store all of the business information and to communicate with clients. Not to mention the construction worker is probably using a smartphone for communication with their boss.


- Teachers use computers heavily in classrooms, more and more each year. Often they are required to, at least for certain types of classes


- Doctors use computers a lot, ever been to a doctor's office? Half the time they're just typing away and not even paying attention to you hehe


So just saying, not trying to start an argument, just pointing out that computers are pretty ubiquitous in most jobs whether it is a central component or auxiliary but still pretty much a requirement if you want to be successful or keep up with the modern world.

[mikodo]

To twist to another aside, I have often lamented here and in other venues, the opposite. I read an interesting book by Gail Sheehy called "Passages", when it came out around the age I was 30. If one looks it up, it speaks of her theories of tasks and goals to reach towards at stages of life. That in it self is interesting as, in my formal studies later, I would learn how even the end of life is a function of life that we possess the ability to aspire and to attend to death as a task to be attained. That though, is another subject than this thread's function. :)

What always remained with me the most from, reading that book was a (?page or two, I dunno it was over 30 years ago now since I read the book) was something on career happiness. The author maintained that 10% of population would rather be working in their field than doing anything else in their day. Of course, true happiness has many functions that need to be secured and lived to be attained. Ex. happiness in relationships, balance between work and play, family connectedness that transferred to a larger community around us, healthy life-styles, et cetera.

Of the remaining 90% the general population, in increasingly larger percentages, actually enjoyed their work less and less. I have this picture of a pyramid in my mind, maybe the author had used this or maybe it was how I envisioned it. Again, I don't remember. Something like this. The largest % of people were in the bottom of the pyramid and following movement towards the apex within tiers were people that had more and more satisfaction in their work in diminishing percentages. The last 10% being as I mentioned earlier.

What I took from that book was the importance (for me anyway), and most likely not the author's reason for writing the book, was that one should aspire towards the 10% of the working population. Some know this at a very young age. My father met a young man in the physics library of our local University when they were students. My father noticed that this other young man was reading from a text in German. We live in Canada in a prominently English speaking area. My father was intrigued to see someone reading and studying in German. It was an unusual experience outside of the norm for sure. My father at the time was doing graduate studies in physics and knew that much of the best work in the field at that time had been done in German. So, my father had assumed this man was from Germany studying, (teaching) in Canada. So, he went over to him and struck up a conversation and inquired how it was he was reading a German text of physics in Western Canada. The other responded to my father that he had known since a very young age, that he wanted to work in the scientific inquiry of physics and since their was such a wealth of texts written on the subject in German that, as a Canadian in high-school, he had taught himself how to read German to be able to study what was written in that language. He is/was an example of person who knew what made him happy in studies and probably with a career forthcoming, at a very young age.

I think many people don't know at a young age, what they really would like to do in their careers or often don't have opportunities to pursue them, (life-responsibilities can be encumbering).

I have maintained since reading that book by Gail Sheehy that, one should always try, no matter what their circumstances, to advance their lives towards the aforementioned 10%. I have made career changes, some that were quite divergent to what I was doing and in some cases with sacrifices of time and money that not only I had to endure. My families, have had to sacrifice and help in my doing this too.

I started with this my first computer when I was in my late 50's. I am now in early 60's. I know now, if I had come across this technology in a meaningful way earlier, I may have considered it something to have aspired to work in. Possibly, I may have reached that 10% of the working population with it, had I known what I know now. Famous last words, right? :)

An interesting thread. Thank you.

[QDR06VV9]

Thanks mikodo for the memory jog on the book by Gail Sheehy called "Passages"
I am going to re-read this...lots of good takes one can come away with here.
Kind Regards

[poorguy]

Oh probably still be troubleshooting radio transceivers for the city and state department.

[user1397]

Very interesting indeed Mikodo. It's a complex subject for sure. Even if you know exactly what you want to do from a young age, the career you choose might not be lucrative enough to satisfy your other needs or wants, and like you said sometimes there are encumbrances that we can't avoid (life loves throwing curveballs at you :))

I believe most people don't know what they want to do, not just at a young age but all throughout their life. And the scary thing is, we are taught as if we are supposed to know by the end of high school what it is we want to do (speaking as an American, not sure about the rest of the world) and even though you have the option of surveying several majors in college and what not, it is still the ideal to already have it all figured out by the time you enter college. This is insane as most people don't know or they like too many things at once to decide on one.

As for me, I am interested in computers and technology in general, but the more I've gone into this field as a career choice, the more I've realized that perhaps all of this was more of a hobby in my mind, and not something that interests me in a work capacity. Then again, I know it can be lucrative so there's that. Either way, perhaps most people can't be satisfied with their jobs, but at least if they choose something lucrative they can enjoy their free time with some well earned comforts.

[gordintoronto]

Most of my career has been in IT, but I have also done quite a bit of writing, and even held the job title "Editor" for several years, with up to 25 people reporting to me. Where I worked, the Editor was a manager who did a little bit of writing. I did at least 20 executive interviews a year, and wrote at least 25 editorials.

Computers have been used in publishing for around 50 years, so it's hard to imagine not having them available.

[QIII]

I'd be the guy in the beach chair in the Corona beer commercials.

[jonjon2]

Wow. I don't even know how to answer this. My entire career depends on computers and the internet. In a world without computers I would have no job. But IF that were the case......I guess I would be a university literature professor. It would just be a pain reading and grading all of those hand-written essays. Hmmm. Unless typewriters are already a thing. Research would also take a really long time. But I guess libraries would be thriving still!

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Without revealing my age, when I graduated with and engineering degree there were no microprocessors. We designed electronics from discrete components; such as, vacuum tubes, transistors, resistor, capacitors, coils, and so fourth. If computers didn't exist, I guess I would still be designing with discrete components.

[DuckHook]

Without revealing my age, when I graduated with and engineering degree there were no microprocessors. We designed electronics from discrete components; such as, vacuum tubes, transistors, resistor, capacitors, coils, and so fourth. If computers didn't exist, I guess I would still be designing with discrete components.:biggrin: You've just revealed your age... :tongue:

[QDR06VV9]

:biggrin: You've just revealed your age... :tongue:

Nah.. OGW is still a young lad..:biggrin:

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

in the late 1970's we started embedding 8080 and 6800 microprocessors into our designs and programming them in machine code. I would still be able to design electronic circuitry without microprocessors if they didn't exist. :rolleyes:

[Bucky Ball]

The title of this thread and the question it's asking should be:

What would you do for a living if the internet didn't exist? Not computers.

Would you be that interested in computers if it didn't??? To a business, a computer would be a glorified typewriter (which it is now, only it can get online and a few other things), the difference being that it is capable of running word processors and data bases. Your info would still need to be transferred via a USB stick or some other portable device. Like a piece of paper, for instance ...

If life is empty without computers, get a life. :)

[DuckHook]

The title of this thread and the question it's asking should be:

What would you do for a living if the internet didn't exist?

Would you be that interested in computers if it didn't???In all honesty, my answer would be a resounding "yes". Have always been fascinated by the cussed things. I started on these gadgets even before the advent of Arpanet.

Uh-oh. I think I just let slip my age.

[Bucky Ball]

In all honesty, my answer would be a resounding "yes".

And mine, for similar reasons. ;)

I was learning how to create and program data bases back in ... oh, forget it. :)

[k-tech]

I would probably be doing the same thing, only it would be more challenging. I work in process operations in an industry that's been around for over a century, and it's been done before using pneumatic controls, relays, switches, and strip chart recorders.

[SantaFe]

The same thing I try to do every night, Try and take over the World! :D

[tellll]

Probably a physics teacher, I like teaching.. but it's not really my thing.

[Wadim_Korneev]

Without computers there would be less technological leaps. Who knows how far we could have come? Maybe back a few years or perhaps decades? And look at how many things are connected through computers that makes our lives easier.

And a lot of social lives are made on the internet. Maybe your friends move away. Maybe you find a nice community. Whaever the case everyone has a few friends on the internet. The world be a lot more boring and a lot less entertaining.

[bearlake]

Without computers, I would have likely went into wildlife and fisheries law enforcement.

[uNoubu8a]

Well computers make my job easier, but my profession was there before computers. Also I grew up without computers and I did OK :p

Now that I know and love computers, I can't imagine life without them... but I could imagine one without them easily enough if they had never existed.

[yoshii]

I would probably be doing visual arts if digital technologies didn't exist. But I am currently heavily involved with electronic music composition on the computer. I also started doing a digital illustration and some amateur video editing and authoring. And everyday I read from the internet. So my life would be very different.

[llanitedave]

I'd probably go back to being a hunter-gatherer like I was before.

[Bucky Ball]

Start a company and invent computers ...

[QIII]

Having already started a company to invent computers and holding broad patents, I would sue you and take your shirt.

[JayKay3OOO]

A Historian. I love seeing the past and thinking how we can take the best bits and add them to our current society, use their experiences to try and make ours better.