This is actually for two separate books I’ve had on the backburner for years; One being post apocolyptic AI driven, and the other being sort of ‘the apocalypse hit fantasyland #5218484 and now they’ve started to rebuild enough to consider themselves a stable society.’
Two very diffrant setups so ‘one size fits all’ probably wouldn’t apply. I’m leaving out specifics because ‘the non internet network’ is a good general topic of discussion.
Sneakernet? Classic guy running from A to B with a dufflebag full of stuff.
Use networks for some types of traffic between ‘core’ nodes, runners for outlaying nodes, and go asynchrenous for those outlaying nodes (such as BBS/fidonet/usenet?
Anyone here familiar enough with minitel-like systems to explain how that worked?
Going Asynch would seem like a good common ‘thing that is good’ since that means each node isn’t useless when it can’t instantly connect to its fellows and can still serve something to end users.
I mean it’s my setting technically I can do whatever I like especially since in both cases it’s ‘use whatever is on hand’ as opposed to ‘the only things working are the museum pieces’ but I’d still like input from folks who are more knowledgeable or in cases actually have memories of that ‘era’.
So here’s the Scenerios for each (which setting is going with which is less important than it might be if I were going for specifics more than ‘shape of things’ I imagine.)
- One has a city that is transitioning away from courier based mail and message running to essentially repurpose found technology for hardline communications as a hub/spoke to cut down on the number mail persons. Biggest downside Isee to this is it doesn’t precicely remove the need for couriers as it’s hub/spoke rather than a true ‘network’ and the system itself needs mantinancing. On the other side depending on how lines are run you can get faster communication to specific businesses more securely (line straight into town hall, banking, differing ‘important’ points where near instant communication would be useful, etc.))
On tehe other hand current notes put the hub/spoke as being ‘stage one’ where the backgroun problem beyond the big plot moving situation is 'this was built on salvaged technology that with smaller feeder lines radiatinng out from each spoke could tap into each and keep these hubs from acting as potential gate keepers.
- Scenerio for the other story involves a still organizing settlement using land-line network for the core ‘built and established’ settlements, and radio links to outlaying nodes that are part of exploritory units that are either resource gathering, acting as security, or trying to act as that first step in expansion of the core settled bits so that new settler groups can be integrated and have a communications link without having to leave their immediately safe area.
I dunno if this is even proper for this group I’m just kinda spitballing a set of ideas I’ve had half baked for a few years I’ve done depressingly little with. It’s just something feels ‘off’ about both, or maybe it’s just personal fear that both feel somehow inauthentic.