How was the task of computer performs accomplished before computers?

These days computers (and the internet) give us access to people from around the world, and let us filter them according to our interests. We can have text-only conversations with someone a thousand miles away in an instant, although we sacrifice all the other parts of a conversational relationship that make us able to communicate and be happy in return, like facial expressions, vocal tones, body language, disputes, resolutions to those disputes, and the increasing ability to like what life gives you. Before that, the only people you could talk to were those within a couple miles from your house, and a visit usually had to be planned ahead of time. The best way to stay close to people who lived more than two miles away was to go to church, or some other group event or meeting that drew in people from around the area. People had to deal with whatever people were around them, learning how to give and take. Some people hypothesize that the recent increase in teenage depression may stem from the fact that they have no real friends, only virtual friends behind false names who they could never really get to know.