Answer:
For the everyday person, some cell phone services and text messaging would be unavailable, all mobile apps and social networking sites would be down, cloud storage would be inaccessible, any pending electronic payments would fail, and more.
Some television programming that is sent via broadcast towers would still be accessible via an antenna, but most digital channels would be lost. Any electrical grids that operate on a smart grid would fail, causing power outages on top of the internet outages.
For most people who work in high-powered or white-collar jobs (such as academics, doctors, lawyers, journalists and more), an internet shutdown for the day would be the equivalent of a “snow day” from work or school.
However, blue-collar workers and large institutions, both in the U.S. and around the world, that rely on the internet for day-to-day functions would be crippled.
“Those who would suffer would be workers, who increasingly depend on digital networks for their work. Take the plumber who has no office or secretary, but only a smartphone to set up and conduct business,” Dutton said.
“They would be the most affected. This is what happened when people lost the use of pagers for a day, way back in the pager era.”
When it comes to finances, more and more people are going digital. A 2018 Bankrate survey found that 63% of smartphone users have at least one financial app on their phone and the 2018 Citi Mobile Banking study revealed that mobile banking apps are one of the top three used by Americans.
