What happens if all internet goes down?

[*Aqua*]

How do you want to develop a "bugfix" that quickly? Power outage will come within minutes.* Also I expect that only a few specialists have the knowledge and means to the detect and fix the "bug" quickly. It's not like that every power user or "the guy from the telecom" can do that and have access to all necessary information.

* 2006 there was a blackout in Europe because a line was temporarly shut down. Within half an hour a cascade formed which almost lead to a complete collapse. It took more than two hours to recover from that. 10 million households had a blackout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_European_blackout

[Albert VDS]

Why do you expect that only a few specialist have the knowledge?

[*Aqua*]

Underlaying software like the TCP/IP implementation for all platforms are already perfected. And there's always an abstract interface to use them, so you don't need to know how it works in detail.

Look at that book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470147733?ie=UTF8&tag=thelinufoun-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0470147733

It's 770 pages thick! There are maybe 100 people in the world who know everything which is described there.

[Skyler4856]

Grocery stores would be screwed, as they rely on the internet to send orders out...

[Tommygun]

Teenagers would leave their rooms and be forced to talk to their families........

The stock market would panic as usual, but without the internet to complete trades I'm not sure how bad it would get.

[78stonewobble]

One thing is certain. If there ever is a breakdown like that... it should be a requirement by law for every able bodied person to do the chicken dance. Finally with less of a facebook/youtube fear.

[YNM]

Depends on which part of the .net you're talking.

HTTP and HTTPS addresses : Fine. just all the too social lings are going to be pity within the first minute, everyone else at the end of the day (e-mails ?). All up in a few days.

+ FTP : Fairly bad as FTP is used in organizations. Up in a few days too (if phone is still on).

+ Private networks (like say, networks within a bank or stock exchange) : Economic crash I guess. As far as I know things like these uses a different connection than what we see as the internet (like, having a provider from reuters means the base is for banking) so if only what we see as the normal internet is down, it's nothing to them. Up in weeks.

+ National (uh, military) networks : Depends on which nation. Varies from nothing to a week. Reading those regarding power grids, it might disrupts anything else...

+ Phone line : Very bad. Just very bad, because wow, you just "killed" graham bell. This has to be done physically. Up in months.

+ Sats : Well, full disruption... back to bronze age ?

I experience the first one at most ; but it's not so painful.

[cicatrix]

The so called 'first world countries' (i.e. the most technologically developed ones) will suffer the most. Many people would even die (due to industrial accidents that will surely follow). Financial system will be in ruins in a matter of seconds. People will get VERY upset and this would lead, of course, to riots, chaos, etc. Now, if the governments take hard actions and bring up the army, some semblance of order can be restored in a matter of several months. Logistic chains will have to be rebuilt on some alternatives. Military law would last depending on the situation from several months to several years, but then gradually people would adapt.

Now, depending on the tech levels of other countries the consequences would range from medium to none whatsoever. There are nearly half of the globe population that would scarcely notice this and shrug it off as a minor inconvenience. We have people in the world who have not even SEEN a working TV. Ever! To them nearly nothing would change.

Edited January 22, 2015 by cicatrix

[goldenpeach]

you will be forced to send your mailing adress to Squad if you want to receive the next updates(or you could also walk to their HQ in Mexico. I'm not an expert in transportation, but I think it will be easier to give the adress.)

[mjl1966]

Given the volume and scope of business critical data dependent upon the Internet for distribution, the Internet going down entirely would be equivalent to an atmospheric nuclear detonation doing pretty much the same thing with EMP.

[B787_300]

I do think that the stock market would be relatively unaffected as most trades are computer based. Now everyone would get a LOT poorer as most money is not backed by physical items and a good bit of money is virtual and stored in the internet (IE if everyone made a run on the banks there is PHYSICALLY not enough money printed or struck that would be able for everyone to make a complete withdrawal)

[Champ]

Many people would even die (due to industrial accidents that will surely follow).

Very unlikely. Critical systems have securities and are designed to resist power or network failures.

Financial system will be in ruins in a matter of seconds. People will get VERY upset and this would lead, of course, to riots, chaos, etc.

True

[Engineer of Stuff]

If the internet went down, I would move to a remote Alaska cabin. I would take KSP, of course.

[Pds314]

Handwaving the fact that this couldn't ever happen because the internet exists across dozens of technologies, providers, and countries using different technologies...

First hour - a few people start to realize it isn't just them via sms messages. A small number of these purple are in a position to distribute this information door-to-door.

First 6 hours - anyone who has a phone or TV or has a close friend who does has been notified. City vehicles are distributing brochures and non-stop breaking news coverage of the problem puts more people simultaneously looking at TV's than ever before.

First day - internet commerce companies worldwide start going dormant. Employees stop going to work. Google maps becomes virtually unusable. Companies working on a solution develop plans to fix it diagnose the problems. Billions, or even trillions, of dollars disrupted in the stock market.

First week - public outcry against paid online-only software or software or software which has a mandatory login on each use. Internet commerce companies back up the servers and then shut everything down for reboot. Rumors start to spread about how (Aliens, God, North Korea, the communists, the tea party, etc are responsible). Hardcopy software sales triple. Charlatans start to sell "internet enablers." anonymous hackers hijack TV stations constantly. Airports overcrowded due to people trying to find info on future flights. Luddites preach how much better the world is without it. Inaccessibility of medical records leads to slightly increased rate of accidental deaths in hospitals.

As for when it would be fixed, who knows. If the problem is ongoing, then we may have to invent new technologies to have any internet. Off it it's software, it could be fixed in minutes.

[MGCJerry]

Watch people freak out and panic as they have become dependent on the internet.

Me? I'll still be entertained. I can still do all kinds of stuff without an internet connection. When you don't live on the cloud, you aren't tied to the cloud .

Personal story:

When my aunt died a few years ago, I took my computer over to her house to help assemble music cds and to help with the planning and other family stuff. She did always handled all the bills, and it was all new to her husband, who was at work most of the time anyway. Her grandkids stayed the night one night while I had my computer there (and no internet) and they were absolutely astounded I could play games, record cds, play music & movies, work on my website (local copy) without the internet. It blew their minds, and these 'kids' were teenagers. I do mean literally wide-eyed and jaw-dropped.

[magnemoe]

Very unlikely. Critical systems have securities and are designed to resist power or network failures.

Add that all systems is set to fail in a safe position, power outs are not unknown, local network or server fails is far more common.

[Cocox]

I think that if the internet goes down for 1 year, we will witness a population boom..

[Brotoro]

The biggest problems would be with the financial system. And I don't mean just the corporations and banks that will grind to a halt. How much money do YOU have to survive on if your cash machines and credit card transactions stop working?