Technology
A backbone for the internet was not in place until 1986.
Mobile phone technology was launched in the UK in 1985.
1984, ironically, was the last year before we became wired.
It was an analogue world without CCTV, mobile phones, the web and all that these technologies entail.
When you roamed, you roamed alone, unconnected, in a mind-state which is now forever unobtainable.