I would be lost, it's simple as that.

Communication, news, information, shopping, gone. True, all of those things can be done/found without the internet but not as fully or as quickly.

Letter writing and receiving is good and certainly should not be thought of as redundant, but I think e-mail has a unique value all of it's own, speed being the nucleus. As for the value of the other means of communication just take Pet Talk itself as an example. How much poorer we would be without the support, the sharing, the people from all over the world who have become friends ... need I go on?

News and information I could get in other ways for sure but again speed is at the core. Just think how easy it is to find what you need or want to know, would you really want to go back to waiting for the daily newspaper to find out what is going on in your community or in the world? Or go back to physically searching through the libraries and other such places for that piece, maybe a small piece, of the information you need?

Shopping, well, yes, for some actually going into shops to find what they want can be a pleasure. Not me. I like grocery, clothes, book, cd, dvd, pet supplies, you-name-it shopping online. No queues, no crowds, no carrying. Joy. And if the wrong/faulty/unwanted item(s) are delivered? Well, that's where the good old e-mail becomes so useful.

I don't use Facebook and the like - however I do use Twitter but that can be tailored to how you want it, for example I rarely Tweet but find some other peoples can be very interesting, but having said that, it is one thing I wouldn't miss it if it were gone.

All in all I find the internet to be a very useful tool and, as I wrote in the beginning of my post and will repeat, I for one would be lost without it.