--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the pre-Internet age you had to find…" description: "\"In the pre-Internet age you had to find gay things - or things that were slightly radioactive with erotic interest. You had to go to the library, you h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/daniel-mendelsohn-21084_age_in-the-pre-internet-age-you-had-to-find_846250.jpg" --- # In the pre-Internet age you had to find gay things - or… ![“In the pre-Internet age you had to find gay things - or things that were slightly radioactive with erotic interest. You had to go to the library, you had to find the books; you had to find the coded things. When everything's available and everything's okay, what does it become? It becomes…” quote by Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/daniel-mendelsohn-21084_age_in-the-pre-internet-age-you-had-to-find_846250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/daniel-mendelsohn-21084_age_in-the-pre-internet-age-you-had-to-find_846250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/daniel-mendelsohn-21084_age_in-the-pre-internet-age-you-had-to-find_846250.jpg) > “In the pre-Internet age you had to find gay things - or things that were slightly radioactive with erotic interest. You had to go to the library, you had to find the books; you had to find the coded things. When everything's available and everything's okay, what does it become? It becomes shopping. We're shopping all the time, basically, whether for objects, or people. On Manhunt or Grindr, or whatever. It's click to buy.” [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts past effortful search for erotic content with today's effortless, commodified access, suggesting intimacy has become a consumer habit. **In simple terms:** Finding erotic material used to require work; now it’s just shopping. Key Takeaway Recognize how technology changes intimacy. Themes technologyity consumerism technology relationships Mood reflective critical Type observational analytical When to use this quote - Online dating - social media - personal relationships - sexual exploration Key Concepts Digital media commodification desire Questions to Reflect On - How has online convenience reshaped your intimate connections? - Do you feel intimacy is more transactional now? A Different Perspective It may overlook the emotional depth that still exists beyond clicks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Shopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shopping/) ## Related quotes > [My mother actually does most of my shopping for me. I love fashion, but I don't really love shopping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-de-niese/my-mother-actually-does-most-of-my-shopping-for-me-i-love-fashion-but/) [Danielle de Niese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-de-niese/) > [“Are you just passing through or are you really shopping there? And if you’re shopping there, what things, if any, are you going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-sorensen/are-you-just-passing-through-or-are-you-really-shopping-there-and-if/) [Herb Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-sorensen/) > [The true test is if he's willing to go shopping with me. Will you go shopping, and will you hold the purse while I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-chabert/the-true-test-is-if-he-s-willing-to-go-shopping-with-me-will-you-go/) [Lacey Chabert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-chabert/) > [I do wish, when I was younger, that I knew that I was gay. It would have made things a lot clearer for me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rapinoe/i-do-wish-when-i-was-younger-that-i-knew-that-i-was-gay-it-would-have/) [Megan Rapinoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rapinoe/) > [My least favorite aspect of shopping is shopping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aj-lee/my-least-favorite-aspect-of-shopping-is-shopping/) [AJ Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aj-lee/) > [Many of us grew up with a kind of puritanism against shopping. But shopping can be much more than how it is cast. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miuccia-prada/many-of-us-grew-up-with-a-kind-of-puritanism-against-shopping-but/) [Miuccia Prada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miuccia-prada/) > [Meditation, yoga, working out, and eating well. That's my wellness. 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People who go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-vegas/the-people-on-the-qvc-shopping-channel-convince-me-that-life-is-worth/) [Johnny Vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-vegas/) > [I think vintage shopping is really cool because it's fun to like look for something and then you find it's one of a kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-kinski-jones/i-think-vintage-shopping-is-really-cool-because-it-s-fun-to-like-look/) [Kenya Kinski-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-kinski-jones/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [For me, it's about being at home and living a life. Taking the dog for a walk, doing the shopping, emptying the dishwasher, going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cillian-murphy/for-me-it-s-about-being-at-home-and-living-a-life-taking-the-dog-for/) [Cillian Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cillian-murphy/) > [When Apple introduced its game-changing iPhone in 2007, Nokia was caught sleeping on the job. Although it had actually developed an iPhone-style device -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noreena-hertz/when-apple-introduced-its-game-changing-iphone-in-2007-nokia-was/) [Noreena Hertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noreena-hertz/) > [Weekend planning is a prime time to apply the Deathbed Priority Test: On your deathbed, will you wish you'd spent more prime weekend hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/weekend-planning-is-a-prime-time-to-apply-the-deathbed-priority-test/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [I can't resist buying shoes, bags, and lip gloss. I can never leave a shopping experience without one of those.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-trachtenberg/i-can-t-resist-buying-shoes-bags-and-lip-gloss-i-can-never-leave-a/) [Michelle Trachtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-trachtenberg/) ## More by Daniel Mendelsohn > [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [“An epic without a focus - without a single action, a coherent plot, a single terrible point to make - was just a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/an-epic-without-a-focus-without-a-single-action-a-coherent-plot-a/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [Life is not bad, and it doesn't look more real if it's ugly or it's gritty. 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When the strictures that set you apart or oppressed you, disappear, is there a way, legitimately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/shopping-as-lifestyle-is-really-a-sub-cultural-problem-when-the/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [You come out of the gate, you've got something new, you're subversive, nobody's ever done it before. But by your fifth novel and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/you-come-out-of-the-gate-you-ve-got-something-new-you-re-subversive/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [Closeness can lead to emotions other than love. It's the ones who have been too intimate with you, lived in too close quarters, seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/closeness-can-lead-to-emotions-other-than-love-it-s-the-ones-who-have/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [The writers we absorb when we're young bind us to them, sometimes lightly, sometimes with iron. In time, the bonds fall away, but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/the-writers-we-absorb-when-we-re-young-bind-us-to-them-sometimes/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [Gay people, certainly gay people of my generation, at least of a certain echelon - middle-class Americans - have binocular vision. We all are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/gay-people-certainly-gay-people-of-my-generation-at-least-of-a/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [“sunt lacrimae rerum, “There are tears in things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/sunt-lacrimae-rerum-there-are-tears-in-things/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [“For (strange as it may sound to many people, who tend to think of critics as being motivated by the lower emotions: envy, disdain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/for-strange-as-it-may-sound-to-many-people-who-tend-to-think-of/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) [Explore all 30 Daniel Mendelsohn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. 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But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the pre-Internet age you had to find gay things - or things that were slightly radioactive with erotic interest. You had to go to the library, you had to find the books; you had to find the coded things. When everything's available and everything's okay, what does it become? It becomes shopping. We're shopping all the time, basically, whether for objects, or people. On Manhunt or Grindr, or whatever. 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