What Did We Do Before the Internet?

My wife and I gave our 2008 Subaru to our oldest son a few weeks ago. We thought we were doing him a favor. It turns out we unloaded a minor problem for us only to give it to him. Being a responsible father means that it is now my problem again. The clutch was getting really close to burning out. Now it is slipping and we get to repair it. What does this have to do with the Internet? That is how we diagnosed the problem and also the means for figuring out the best course of action to fix it.

My son described the problem to me over the course of two or three verbal paragraphs. I did a quick search on the Internet and discovered the clutch is slipping. It is only a matter of time before it burns out completely and the car is no longer drivable. Next I looked at what it would take to repair it. You can get a clutch replacement kit for about $200 online. The only question is if it is enough to completely repair the clutch. A quick search revealed a nice video talking about the problem and roughly how to fix it. Armed with a lot more knowledge and a few more Internet searches, my son and I are confident we can solve the problem on our own.

This leads me to the question of today's entry: What did we do before the Internet? It feels like any time there is a problem I need solved or a question I need answered, the Internet has one. Not all of the answers are correct, but there is a lot of guidance that didn't exist before. Now I get to spend a Saturday working on the car with my son.