Electricity is a necessity of modern life but how good/bad/dramatic would it be if it were suddenly switched off? I mean mains electricity mostly but it could be extended to all electronics, so mp3 players, mobiles, laptops and cars would stop working.

Obviously a lot of communication would be cut off, and we would have no electric lighting or heating but still have gas. Food would quickly run out and there would be no water because the pumps wouldn't work. The only transport would be by foot, bike or animal (or an ancient vehicle not using electricity). Maybe steam power could make a comeback...

I imagine that multinational corporations would crumble overnight, but small local shops offering the essentials may limp by for a while. Luxury items would suddenly be obsolete and looting would be rife. The whole world would become the third world.It would require a completely different way of thinking.

It's scary to think how we rely on just one energy source so heavily for nearly everything.

Suddenly loosing electricity permanently would cause complete turmoil.

Our current population densities would rapidly become unsustainable because it's the combination of electricity and petrol that moves all our goods and people. Without electricity we also loose the logistical support that computer systems provide, for example.

We would also loose modern manufacturing at a stroke as just-in-time inventory systems would mean that the necessary raw materials would be rapidly exhausted.

Essentially any transition would be very painful and we would soon remember why we, as a society, try so hard to avoid having angry crowds of hungry people.

All the more reason that if you own your own home, start planning on kitting it out with a renewable energy source such as solar, it will be a wise investment for when the fossil fuel crisis starts, which wont be that far away!

I suspect that in 10 years time you may be paying double what you are now for gas, if not more. Electricity less so because it is not only fossil fuel generated, but I don't think the future for fossil fuels is not bright.

Scottie... but solar power is still electrons runnig through your house wiring.
Kadushu, there's no stopping to one's imagination when it comes to a topic like this. The entire civilization as we know it is elctricity dependent to the marrow. Even the tiniest and most unimportant aspects of our lives would change drastically. So there i stop my imagination, because in a world without electricity, we would still invent electricity.
i wonder if there's a substitute to this...
we invent i.e. computers that work like this (like we all know) because we start from the basic, - elctricity. We have a given factor, (electricity) and upon that we start squeezing our imagiantion and basically, - invent things.
And tell you what; how amazing appears Jules Vernes when you think of all this? A genius, a prophet or a time traveller?

Well with talk of solar flares, EM storms etc that could knock out all of our electronic, I would suggest that anyone who has contributed to advancing our dependancy may be labelled a demon in history. As for Mr Verne, you can decide.

As individuals we would appear to be wealthier, more secure, safer, etc than ever. However, as a civilisation we seem more vulnerable than ever, as we rely on a core of necessities that may collapse in their entirety at any moment. The economy being one also.

Comeon Kadushu! being dependent on something doesn't mean we're on our way to extinction, or even that we might be in some sort of danger! Especially when it comes to something so extremely abundant, the existence of matter itself guarantees! (i'm talking about electrons!, everything you see is composed by them)
After all, aren't we all dependent on oxygen, or water, for example?
Solar flares... they're nothing uncommon... but, if we talk about the uncommon, some solar flares can be so giant (protuberances) they can literally strip the earth off its atmosphere in a matter of seconds... what'd be of life on earth then?
So, take life as it comes and do the best you can out of what we have now.
And, he (they, actually, for they were many) can't be called a demon... it is not evil the one who invented the knife, it's evil the man that uses it to kill his kin, and certainly, not the surgeon that keeps saving lives at the point of no-hope.

Babbage's "difference engine" is a basic computer that runs without electricity. Sections have been rebuilt by the Science Museum and with modern tolerances it certain does seem it is possible.

The question that would remain is could we design one, assemble the raw materials and make it with sufficient accuracy without electricity?

If we could then these devices could be used to cover some of the void computers would leave.

I doubt you could play Halo 3 though ...

For basic raw computing, we could use a mechanical computer for sure. However it would not address the issue of long range communication and output would probably be quite basic.

As for extinction and comparisons with the knife and oxygen, well - we dont depend on knives to the extent we do on electricity, and we didnt invent oxygen.

What I'm getting at is that we could do with a backup plan or two - a bit like scottie and politegorilla have suggested - alternatives to electronics.

Really the threat of chaos and the collapse of society is my marketing front - shock tactics if you will. I'm thinking smaller than that in reality. Just think we take an awful lot for granted and seem to be ruining our planet gradually through material excess.

I think one of the big travesties of any "reversion" scenario, where we are forced to use lower technology solutions after an upheaval, is that we now know that the answer would be out there if we could just find it.

With electricity, computer, telephony and the internet we're able to look up historic uses of local resources (a good enough mortar, a way to waterproof something, etc) either by a web search, a phone call and/or a trip to a reference library.

Take electricity away, add some social chaos and the wealth of knowledge in books becomes harder to "mine" for the exact thing. Some ignorant sod might also have used the book you wanted to light a fire!

A lot of skills have been lost too. Imagine also if you had to set up a forge from scratch, for example, and have a stab at beating metal into shape.

Again the right book could get you halfway there, at least. If only you could find it ...

i can vouch for all the horror stories about how life ends when your electric does! everytime my bloody key meter catches me out, its always in the moring when i wake up, put the kettle on and it doesnt work nasty!!!

Why would electricity fail to function?

I suppose an ongoing solar flare of the correct polarity would render unhardend systems inoperative but shielded systems would still function depending on the level of the flare and the level of shielding on said systems.

As for what happens, well I guess we dig out of the liberaries pre-electrical technology and start producing it.

Speed of communications would be the chief problem, but heliographs can provide a limited and reletively high speed substitute.

Freezers and fridges are essentialy fluid and mechanical pumps, so electric pumps would be replaced by some other power source. Likely rendering home fridges less than efficient solutions, so only the rich would be able to afford to keep them running. For the rest its back to pre-fridge life and 'community freezers' I suspect.