QUESTION;
If we [all of mankind] suddenly lost [worldwide] connectivity, what kind of world would we all,
suddenly be forced to experience ?


connectivity = = the state or extent of being connected.      capacity for the interconnection of platforms, systems, and applications.



I can remember a world before communication satellites and before >> instant, << worldwide [visual] tele-communications.

I can remember a world when the evening TV news would tell us about some calamity,
that had happened, somewhere in the world.

But the TV news program wouldn't be able to show any moving images of the event, from that locale,
until after the physical film arrived by aircraft, a day or two later.


I suppose that with the availability of undersea optical cables today, our dependence upon satellite [for mass] communication, is not so critical, or so vulnerable to interruption ?



But what about modern day warfare,  .....and its dependence upon accurate, precise geo-location, for missile strikes [from satellite data sets] ?

Its OK building lotsa high-tek missiles.

But without access to accurate geo-location data, could their 'utility' be made redundant ?


redundant = = no longer needed or useful; superfluous.

I love the thread title 

If Australia went dark (cut off from the internet), we would still survive quite capably. If the world made a concentrated effort to shut down the Australian economy, we would be somewhat "screwed". However, these days, it would only be a matter of Australians having to do our socioeconomic "boot camp" training on how to survive.

Given that I have done 4 years' worth of army reservist training in the last 30 years of my life, there is only a mild attitude adjustment that needs to be made among the spoiled brats.

tallowood wrote on Oct 8^th, 2024 at 11:48am:


Internet is HOW some people spend time with family. It's been a significant connection ever since "trunk calls" made long distance telephone affordable.

As to people smugglers, it's only the high end who arrange tourist and working visas who would be inconvenienced.

International internet going down would end intercontinental phone calls, and bump the price of "long distance" phone calls (Telstra et al would need to bump prices, given the weakness of legacy systems and the progressive decay of Australian internet.)

In the nightmare scenario that there was no international internet, Australian computers and phones would STOP WORKING. Those pesky updates are actually necessary, or else the Australian internet sphere would become terribly insecure and unusable due to DoS attacks.

That is however an impossible scenario. Apple, MS etc would put their updates on flash drives and deliver them by commercial air. A day late is still quite good to keep internet devices secure.

I used to play chess with a guy from my town. He learned to play from a Sargon (kind of chess computer) and from the first game I had to admit he was better than me. He would win roughly three of four.

The same guy introduced me to internet chess. But I didn't play him much, there. His rating was much higher than mine.

The point of the story is this: when he moved away (still in Australia) we arranged some games of postal chess. We played (if I remember) ten games simultaneously. And at postal chess I was better. Given unlimited time, and the ability to keep notes, I was the better player.

And end to international internet, would turn Australian geniuses loose on the Australian mediocrities. And Australians who still wanted to converse with foreigners, would have to adopt an essay style. Rather than the SMS style which is standard on forums. Their side of the conversation would be worth reading for anyone interested in the topic. Not just the individual they're replying to, who is obliged to read it.

We would be men and women "of letters." Anyone prepared to accept the delay involved, would necessarily be someone worth reading.

I will just add, that TELSTRA SUCKS.

I used to be on TPG dialup, then TPG ADSL. But when I wanted to upgrade the connection, there were apparently "no free ports." I tried a dozen other providers, they all said "no free ports."

When finally I gave in and applied for Telstra broadband, there was no "free ports" problem. They have by legislation a lock on a share of the ports, they can just wait until customers have no choice and have to buy their over-priced service.

Also, Telstra have had ongoing problems with email. Email! This is the most basic service, which you can literally run yourself from a home server.

Setanta wrote on Oct 9^th, 2024 at 7:38pm:


I've never been happier than my first year on TPG. I had something called the "nightrider" which was completely free. I even connected a 56k modem to the second line (which I had to sign up for anyway, due to other members of the household wanting to use the phone.) 112 baud, it was basically business class internet, for free.

But sadly I'm now with Telstra. I can't change, because an elderly member of the household is wedded to their email address.

Dammit, just ditch the spam, pick through your contact list and decide who you want to keep. But you can't tell old people anything.

Setanta wrote on Oct 9^th, 2024 at 8:13pm:


Awesome! Did you get pushback from the school staff wanting to call out? Or did you have six lines just for IT?

Last time I was in a school, I was a teacher assistant. I was friendly with the IT guy (who was also a metalwork teacher) but he wouldn't let me anywhere near the school network. He wasn't even paid for it, it's really quite puzzling.