Imagining a World Without Computers

It is hard to imagine a world without computers. And it is not because we have always had the computer with us. But rather, we have to account for all the hindsight that we have now. Since the popularity and the commoditization of the computer and how almost every household now has access to the computer be it at home or at public places, it is hard to imagine that we can do without it.
Our household appliances are already embedded with and running with tiny computer boards with software written to it to enable its intelligent controls. High definition smart televisions would not be in existence without the early innovations of the computer and there will not be that all-important digital radio alarm to wake us up for work on time every day. The world might literally come to a standstill if computers were to be suddenly taken away from us.

If there was to be no computers now, it is quite possible some people might heave a sigh of relief because there are some trades that do not require the use of computers up till present day. In other words, their lives or livelihood will unlikely be unaffected anyway.

But for the rest of us, life will become a dull black and white with shades of grey in between. It will be back to basics where there will be a heavy reliance on the state media and everyone will be sipping their lattes at street sidewalk cafes and catching up on the new paperback novel that they have just bought. There will be no need for anyone to lug around their laptop computers trying to complete essays at Starbucks or trying to compute financial figures on their Excel spreadsheets. It will be the humble notepad organizer instead of the Apple iPhone. Life will be quite different.

The first computer was developed in the 1930s. So to imagine a life without computers we would have to go back to pre-computer years. That is probably how life would be like without the existence of computers. It is unimaginable.

A world without computers now would be difficult as nations have become increasingly reliant on technology to help them function. Governments use computers for their day to day operations and airline terminals rely on their computer systems to schedule flights and air traffic control need their computers to help navigate passengers planes on takeoff and landing.

Without the computer, there is no way people would be able to travel as easily and efficiently as they have been doing. There will definitely be less collaboration and the world will appear to be much larger. There will be most importantly be a lack of information, and with that, comes a lack of understadifferent cultures and communities. Without computers, we would be taking a quantum leap backwards.