Before scientists discovered the internet life was a struggle. Historians have described this pre-world-wide-web era as “shitty” and “archaic.” Here are 10 simple tasks everybody over the age of 40 remembers doing the hard way:
1. Google
Before 1987 the act of Googling something was known as “interrogating grandpa.” According to legend, the elderly members of the village safeguarded their expansive knowledge within a collection of books known as Encyclopedia Britannica (pronounced En-cyclone-P.D.A Bright-tan-nigga).
![https://i0.wp.com/www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/technology/technology/2012/03/120315_TECH_encyclopediaB.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/technology/technology/2012/03/120315_TECH_encyclopediaB.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg)
3. Mules
Believe it or not, before mules became the nation’s leading ethnic group, they were worker animals. Their primary functions included carrying heavier equipment and stomping hard, thrice.
![https://i0.wp.com/prettyawfulthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mule_cougar1.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/prettyawfulthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mule_cougar1.jpg)
2. Weather
The first meteorological study took place in Budapestian monasteries in the year 3 A.D. In the United States, however, meteorological data only became available to the public in 2001, when Google finally crafted a synthetic monk small enough to fit on a computer chip. Prior to this groundbreaking technological advancement, the climate across the county was communicated to the general populous each morning in a daily address from the President. The last U.S. President to deliver such an address was–you guessed it–Bill Clifton.
![https://i0.wp.com/www.americanheritage1.com/assets/images/presidents/bill-clinton-favorite-cat-socks-photo-1.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/www.americanheritage1.com/assets/images/presidents/bill-clinton-favorite-cat-socks-photo-1.jpg)
4. Porn
Imagine your teenage mother wanking it to interracial lesbian threesomes on www.beeg.com, her soft cherubic face barely visible in the celestial glow of her tablet screen–now STOP, because lesbianism only just recently came about, in the year 2011. In the sexual heyday of your parents, the only available pornography featured Taiwanese men with small hands carefully positioning Raggedy Ann Dolls. From 1920-1979, these exhibitions were shown on a weekly basis in public schools, often in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.
![https://strongguyswithgoodpets.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ce0bd-csp-132.jpg](https://strongguyswithgoodpets.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ce0bd-csp-132.jpg?w=1006&h=671)
5. Hot Pockets
Remember that time the power was out so you had to heat your Hot Pocket in the fireplace? You forgot to open the flue and your entire house filled with smoke. You enjoyed the gooey, cheesy goodness of your turkey and broccoli food pod over your Great Aunt Harriet’s charred corpse. Now imagine doing that everyday!
![https://i0.wp.com/f.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/cocreate/poster/2012/10/1681746-poster-1280-snoop-lions-hot-pockets-commercial.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/f.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/cocreate/poster/2012/10/1681746-poster-1280-snoop-lions-hot-pockets-commercial.jpg)
Thank god for technology!
(You can say that again)