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What Did People Do Before Smartphones?
(www.theatlantic.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
We were painfully, PAINFULLY bored.
Lines waiting for anything were agony, but we learned to tolerate them. There were less people so often the lines weren't as bad but still.
Boredom is something we're more sensitive now because we can be, much like hunter-gatherers were probably less sensitive to hunger and cold than we are.
I don’t recall being particularly bored but I do recall taking a book absolutely everywhere with me. I can remember arguing with my parents because they’d only let me pack 7 hardback library books in my suitcase for a two week holiday when I was about 8!