100 Things We've Lost to the Internet

By: Pamela Paul

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

The acclaimed editor of The New York Times Book Review takes readers on a nostalgic tour of the pre-Internet age, offering powerful insights into both the profound and the seemingly trivial things we've lost.

Remember all those ingrained habits, cherished ideas, beloved objects, and stubborn preferences from the pre-Internet age? They’re gone.

To some of those things we can say good riddance. But many we miss terribly. Whatever our emotional response to this departed realm, we are faced with the fact that nearly every aspect of modern life now takes place in filtered, isolated corners of cyberspace—a space that has slowly subsumed our physical habitats, replacing or transforming the office, our local library, a favorite bar, the movie theater, and the coffee shop where people met one another’s gaze from across the room. Even as we’ve gained the ability to gather without leaving our house, many of the fundamentally human experiences that have sustained us have disappeared.

In one hundred glimpses of that pre-Internet world, Pamela Paul, editor of The New York Times Book Review, presents a captivating record of the world before cyberspace—from voicemails to blind dates to punctuation to civility. There are the small losses: postcards, the blessings of an adolescence largely spared of documentation, the Rolodex, and the genuine surprises at high school reunions. But there are larger repercussions, too: weaker memories, the inability to entertain oneself, and the utter demolition of privacy.

100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet is at once an evocative swan song for a disappearing era and, perhaps, a guide to reclaiming just a little bit more of the world IRL.

Critic reviews

“[A] rare feat of exploring what technology has done to us without succumbing to doom and panic . . . Poignant, thought-provoking.”—The Guardian

“An accomplished solo act . . . Readers who remember the dawning of the internet era will find plenty to commiserate with in this mostly lighthearted lament.”—Publishers Weekly

It is true

It made me think about all the ways our world has changed by this little had held device

Fun Reminder of the Past

The author reminds us of what we had before the internet. Some of it is missed but for me some that is gone is worth the trade off.

enjoyable

mostly does a good job of not sounding like an angry boomer... pretty fair all-in-all and provided some nice nostalgia. good, light, enjoyable listen. thanks NPR!

Great on a couple fronts

this was nostalgic, a little sad, and yet hopeful in other ways. Great narration. Serious chapters with silly chapters peppered in. A book that's very easy to follow, digest, or listen to

Nostalgic

What a great trip down memory lane. This is the perfect book to listen too whilst you are doing other chores, because it is easy to get into. The chapters are short, and well written. I spent a lot of time reflecting over what the Internet has given us, and what we have lost. Highly recommend this to anyone who grew up before the internet was a thing.