
Ask HN: Why Are People Staying in More? - s_r_n
People are increasingly working, consuming entertainment and ordering food from home. Why is this happening? Have there been other times in history when people have spent most of their time at home?
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NeedMoreTea
Well, we've constructed an app based world where you don;t need to go out, or
pick up the phone, to talk to your friends. Food, shopping, entertainment is
all centred around the individual. There's an app for that.

It's constructed, accidentally, an age of self-centred loneliness. Towns,
bars, shops are increasingly struggling. Yes, going out is expensive, and it's
cheaper to buy a few bottles of beer and Netflix, but few of our social
networks (those used to be real not online) are based in the local pub or
weekly club any more. Now they're all around the personalised, I'm the centre
of the world, app.

Don't agree about the depression - When my parents went through the
depression, everyone was in everyone else's pockets. They'd spend time in each
other's houses for ad hoc childcare, meals, help from debt, hiding from the
rent man etc. A lot of their stories were of a world I don't recognise at all.
Everyone knew everyone in the street and did things together; it was almost
disturbingly social. Maybe that was because they were in a city, I don't know.

I suspect the right balance is somewhere in between.

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ocdtrekkie
Where I live (Chicago area), restaurants are packed most nights, and on
weekends, movie theaters are too. Your mileage may vary on "most" people
staying home.

That being said, for me, the number one and two reasons I stay home are cold
and traffic. I go out a LOT more when it's warmer. But anything I can go out
for is weighed against the time I'm going to end up sitting in my car. I tend
to do a lot of stops or whatever on the way home, but tend to stay home once I
am there.

Also, note that tipping significantly increases the cost of food, which you
don't escape with delivery, but do escape if you get takeout/to-go. And with
an often 30-40 minute wait time to be seated at a restaurant some nights, not
waiting to not have to tip sounds mighty worthwhile.

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ArtDev
Well.. the Great Depression comes to mind.

Going out is expensive. The middle class has less disposable income now. I am
not middle class (because I am a web developer) but though I can afford to go
out, I don't go out that often.

I prefer to cook at home, for cost and health. I have a great tv, the movie
theatre is expensive, so it has to be a movie I really want to see. Working
from home is awesome. I do it as much I can. My cat misses me when I am away.

People spend a lot of their time "virtually socializing" with their phones.
So, being at home alone.. isn't as alone as it used to be,

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70122-_6
"another time in history..." yeah the 50's with their pooches.
[http://hyperurl.co/45dv8p](http://hyperurl.co/45dv8p)

