Before social media. Before those video ads. Before all of those restricted menus. This was when the Web was the new "Wild West", and it seems like as recently as 2010 the frontier closed and is given. This was when the Internet was popular, fun, not exactly 100% essential like it is today, and when it was more "mom and pop" oriented, not being owned by different conglamerates. Sure, archive.org helps us relive this era, but it sometimes makes me cry to realize how much the Internet has changed. It was my teenage years of exploring before the innocence of being a full time adult ended this several years ago. Sure, the modems were slower, but in reality the smaller content web pages more than made up for this. Instead of Wikipedia, you used Encarta. Instead of using Youtube/Last.FM/Pandora, you used Napster and other similar sites. You used Geocities instead of Facebook. You used AIM instead of Twitter. Forums were state-of-the art then and I still feel have that formality that Twitter and to a lesser degree Facebook lack. You didn't have that many subscription plans as well to pay for, and privacy was much safer. But on Earth, all good things must eventually come to an end.

Note I use the c. 1996-2003 period here as before 1996, the Internet was too primitive to really be enjoyable.

I miss the delights of Dial-up Internet access.

I miss the delights of Dial-up Internet access.


Dial-Up was so horrible, But I didn't know that since I was really little at the time. The only thing I would do on the computer back then was play games and such.

Though I much prefer the internet of today over the internet of the past, I do have pleasant memories of my first PC that I got back in 2002, and of surfing the internet on it. I go to archive.org every now and then, and it is a great website for nostalgia.

I miss the delights of Dial-up Internet access.


Yes. Being able to go to an Internet page and then leave while it loaded to watch a 30 minute sitcom (b/c we didn't have DVR ) yeah.... Those were the good old days.  ::)

Yes. Being able to go to an Internet page and then leave while it loaded to watch a 30 minute sitcom (b/c we didn't have DVR ) yeah.... Those were the good old days.  ::)


30 minutes?  What kind of fast dial-up connection did you have? lol

Yes. Being able to go to an Internet page and then leave while it loaded to watch a 30 minute sitcom (b/c we didn't have DVR ) yeah.... Those were the good old days.  ::)


It takes me 30 minutes to brush my teethe.

Only 8 minutes and 42 seconds more.... :(

30 minutes?  What kind of fast dial-up connection did you have? lol


Ha ha I forgot to include getting dinner and eating it and going to the bathroom. Okay it was more like 45 mins to an hour.  ;D

I naturally like the speed of internet today.  But I was much more active at programming (coding) webpages by hand back in the olden days (I think I hand-wrote 4 or 5 pages for different interests and for work.)  After all the program came out making it fairly simple to program a page, I really lost interest.

I also used to chat to complete strangers when internet was new (to me.)  Now, I can't be bothered anymore.  Go figure.

Dial-Up was so horrible, But I didn't know that since I was really little at the time. The only thing I would do on the computer back then was play games and such.


I remember not being able to use the phone and the internet at once. I remember having to sign off of AOL so that family members could use the phone. If you picked up the phone while someone was using the Internet, you would hear a bunch of dial up noises.

Before social media. Before those video ads. Before all of those restricted menus. This was when the Web was the new "Wild West", and it seems like as recently as 2010 the frontier closed and is given. This was when the Internet was popular, fun, not exactly 100% essential like it is today, and when it was more "mom and pop" oriented, not being owned by different conglamerates. Sure, archive.org helps us relive this era, but it sometimes makes me cry to realize how much the Internet has changed. It was my teenage years of exploring before the innocence of being a full time adult ended this several years ago. Sure, the modems were slower, but in reality the smaller content web pages more than made up for this. Instead of Wikipedia, you used Encarta. Instead of using Youtube/Last.FM/Pandora, you used Napster and other similar sites. You used Geocities instead of Facebook. You used AIM instead of Twitter. Forums were state-of-the art then and I still feel have that formality that Twitter and to a lesser degree Facebook lack. You didn't have that many subscription plans as well to pay for, and privacy was much safer. But on Earth, all good things must eventually come to an end.

Note I use the c. 1996-2003 period here as before 1996, the Internet was too primitive to really be enjoyable.


One part I miss is the creativity that went into personal websites.  Now everything is too standardized many things such as moving gifs and brightly colored are seen as tacky. There is a lot less variety and creativity as well as a lot fewer truly personalized pages. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0


My family didn't stop using dial-up internet til about 2 years ago. We must've been some of the few people on this planet still using AOL. :P

Note I use the c. 1996-2003 period here as before 1996, the Internet was too primitive to really be enjoyable.


Lawn, off, git :)

Actually, I wouldn't go back to pre-Eternal-September either, so count me in for Web 1.0.  (I'm not thrilled with Web 2.0, but I'm hoping that 3.0 breaks us out of the "all your data are belong to Zuckerberg" future se seem to be heading for.)

I miss the delights of Dial-up Internet access.


I miss those days when the dial-up connection came up on the screen and made a noise when trying to dial up.

Dial-Up was so horrible, But I didn't know that since I was really little at the time. The only thing I would do on the computer back then was play games and such.


It sometimes would say "Dial-Up has failed,Try Again".

30 minutes?  What kind of fast dial-up connection did you have? lol


I think I had AOL at the time.

I remember not being able to use the phone and the internet at once. I remember having to sign off of AOL so that family members could use the phone. If you picked up the phone while someone was using the Internet, you would hear a bunch of dial up noises.


That's what happened to mine too.  ::)

I sure do. It brings back memories. We got our first computer in early 2001.  I was 10 and i used to play games and go in kid chat rooms. it  was sooo much fun! I hated that dial  up sound though. I remember my mom always yelling : " Get off the damn computer, i need to use the phone!"

Yes. Being able to go to an Internet page and then leave while it loaded to watch a 30 minute sitcom (b/c we didn't have DVR ) yeah.... Those were the good old days.  ::)
I usually went and made a cup of tea while waiting.

I usually went and made a cup of tea while waiting.


I always sat there and waited for however how long it took.http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReeo_jrDDOirHcqens0s-SbLXZXbKSaF6vTMJBUzxE69TUFHm0

I always sat there and waited for however how long it took.http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReeo_jrDDOirHcqens0s-SbLXZXbKSaF6vTMJBUzxE69TUFHm0




So you just stared at the computer screen the whole time? Man, Dial Up consumed the souls of many people back then.

I always sat there and waited for however how long it took.http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReeo_jrDDOirHcqens0s-SbLXZXbKSaF6vTMJBUzxE69TUFHm0


Do something usual while waiting, like invent broadband?

So you just stared at the computer screen the whole time? Man, Dial Up consumed the souls of many people back then.


I didn't mind at the time.

Do something usual while waiting, like invent broadband?


Sometimes I would go away for a moment.

Listening to that dial-up sound sure brings back memories. I remember we had to limit our time on it since it was tied up to the phone lines. We got internet in either late 1996 or early 1997 (when I was a freshman in high school) and it was such a novelty. Strange to think that middle school kids today haven't heard that dial up sound.

I hated when I was using dail-up,you had that stupid screeching sound before you logged in.

I miss those days when the dial-up connection came up on the screen and made a noise when trying to dial up.



I hated when I was using dail-up,you had that stupid screeching sound before you logged in.


You confused this man so much that he is stuck in thought ...

http://www.annarborcil.org/wp-content/authors/gridenour-78.jpg

I hated when I was using dail-up,you had that stupid screeching sound before you logged in.


That's not what you said yesterday....  ::)




I miss those days when the dial-up connection came up on the screen and made a noise when trying to dial up.

You confused this man so much that he is stuck in thought ...

http://www.annarborcil.org/wp-content/authors/gridenour-78.jpg



Oh snap is that Wilford Brimleys grandson?  :D

Oh snap is that Wilford Brimleys grandson?  :D



It probably could be.  Just some random pic I found while googling the word confusion lol

That's not what you said yesterday....   ::)





Sorry,I get confused almost all the time,At least you don't live with me.

Sorry,I get confused almost all the time,At least you don't live with me.


thank goodness for small favors!  ;D

thank goodness for small favors!  ;D



::)

Sorry,I get confused almost all the time,At least you don't live with me.


Ah, don't worry Howard, I get confused about my comments all the time.

You make so many comments a day sooner or later you forget.  :(

It's funny, I know a guy that still uses dialup internet service for the sole purpose of playing Dungeons and Dragons online.  Man, he is sure stick in the mid-late 90s  :D

It's funny, I know a guy that still uses dialup internet service for the sole purpose of playing Dungeons and Dragons online.  Man, he is sure stick in the mid-late 90s  :D



What does he use for Dial Up? ???

What does he use for Dial Up? ???


A computer and a phone line  :D

oh God no, dial up was horrible and primitive!! in those days, any internet at all was amazing though.

A computer and a phone line  :D


I had to ask!  ::)

oh God no, dial up was horrible and primitive!! in those days, any internet at all was amazing though.


sometimes lines was busy or didn't answer.

I remember going on Netzero and other free ISP's at the time because my parents wouldn't pay for internet access. Their speeds were actually pretty decent but you had to put up with the ad banners and frequent disconnects.

Dial-up didn't really start to become unusable until the early 2000s.  In the mid-late '90s, web pages were "light" enough that the Internet was reasonably fast even on a 56k modem.  I didn't have broadband until 2005 and by that time, dial-up had become so bad it wasn't even worth the time to log on.  I can't imagine what its like using dial-up today.  Interestingly enough, broadband use didn't surpass dial-up in the United States until 2006.  Today, you pretty much either have broadband or no net access at all.  I think only 10% of American Internet connections are still dial-up.

I do however miss the days when the Internet was cool rather that a commodity.  Even though the Internet was slow and clunky, there was a wonder about it that has since vanished.

I do however miss the days when the Internet was cool rather that a commodity.  Even though the Internet was slow and clunky, there was a wonder about it that has since vanished.

The internet was so slow back then pages were coming up not as quickly as now.

When I first got Internet in the 90s, it was dial-up.  The Internet plan we had was horrible.  You would get 30 minutes of Internet per month, and if you exceeded that, you would have to pay $1 per hour over 30.  I'd get Internet bills that were so high, I needed a ladder to see them. 

i was from a different country so internet wasnt used by many people until the turn of the millenium

all i know that computers can connect with each other around the world back then and i dont know it was called internet :p

"my vague account with old internet was 2003" i think it was a google website :p but i seem to adjust to internet naturally in 2004 :p but didnt use it regularly until 2007

i remember the days without facebook and youtube and it was ages ago for me!!! people are still using friendsters and myspace was very much new

When I first got Internet in the 90s, it was dial-up.  The Internet plan we had was horrible.  You would get 30 minutes of Internet per month, and if you exceeded that, you would have to pay $1 per hour over 30.  I'd get Internet bills that were so high, I needed a ladder to see them. 


our internet bills were high too.

When I first got Internet in the 90s, it was dial-up.  The Internet plan we had was horrible.  You would get 30 minutes of Internet per month, and if you exceeded that, you would have to pay $1 per hour over 30.  I'd get Internet bills that were so high, I needed a ladder to see them. 


:o might as well not have any Internet at all!!!

our internet bills were high too.
Unless you were using someone else's dial-up.

Unless you were using someone else's dial-up.


;D

Unless you were using someone else's dial-up.


No,we would never do that.

No,we would never do that.
At a friends etc?

At a friends etc?


Maybe at a friend's house.

I remember not being able to use the phone and the internet at once. I remember having to sign off of AOL so that family members could use the phone. If you picked up the phone while someone was using the Internet, you would hear a bunch of dial up noises.

That was the hugest problem with dialup, tying up your phone line. We had that in our new home for the first two or three years before upgrading to DSL. Good thing we all had cell phones in case we needed to take/make calls.

It sometimes would say "Dial-Up has failed,Try Again".

What's even worse is when your connection gets lost for whatever reason, especially when you're in the middle of something.

That was the hugest problem with dialup, tying up your phone line. We had that in our new home for the first two or three years before upgrading to DSL. Good thing we all had cell phones in case we needed to take/make calls.


and family members would say "get off that damn phone".

What's even worse is when your connection gets lost for whatever reason, especially when you're in the middle of something.


I know,it happened to me. ::)

and family members would say "get off that damn phone".

Yes, it was quite an inconvenience for your land line to be monopolized by the internet connection. Now with a wireless connection, that problem is easily avoided.

Yes, it was quite an inconvenience for your land line to be monopolized by the internet connection. Now with a wireless connection, that problem is easily avoided.


cell phones.

That was the hugest problem with dialup, tying up your phone line. We had that in our new home for the first two or three years before upgrading to DSL. Good thing we all had cell phones in case we needed to take/make calls.


I'm glad the days of dial-up are over. It was a pain having to log off every time someone needed to use the phone.
The only other options were to get 2 phone lines or use cell phones you did.

I'm glad the days of dial-up are over. It was a pain having to log off every time someone needed to use the phone.
The only other options were to get 2 phone lines or use cell phones you did.


Cell Phones are much better now.

Cell Phones are much better now.
...but still are annoying!

...but still are annoying!


I agree.

I hated the loading times most of all.  Downloading a picture of your mom took forever :P

I hated the loading times most of all.  Downloading a picture of your mom took forever :P


That, son, earned you more karma  ;D

...but still are annoying!


Cell phones aren't annoying, the people talking on them are.  :-X

I hated the loading times most of all.  Downloading a picture of your mom took forever :P


You could've made a cup of coffee and still it would be loading. ::)

Cell phones aren't annoying, the people talking on them are.  :-X


I know,It's commonplace now.  ::)

Well I remember how frustrating dialup was back in the late '90s single webpages took like 30 seconds to a minute to come up, these days they load within almost instantly so I can't say I miss those dialup speeds lmao. Though by the early '00s I had broadband.

Well I remember how frustrating dialup was back in the late '90s single webpages took like 30 seconds to a minute to come up, these days they load within almost instantly so I can't say I miss those dialup speeds lmao. Though by the early '00s I had broadband.


That's why now there's 4G which is the most fastest speed.

Well I remember how frustrating dialup was back in the late '90s single webpages took like 30 seconds to a minute to come up, these days they load within almost instantly so I can't say I miss those dialup speeds lmao. Though by the early '00s I had broadband.


Didn't get broadband here until well into 2005.  By that time dialup was almost unusable for anything other than email.  In the early '00s broadband coverage was far more spotty than it is now.

I hated that noise whenever you turned on AOL to get onto the internet  8-P

What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back.

Telehack is a server that attempts to replicate the experience of a pre-WWW internet.  (Don't worry, you can't break anything, it's just a really well-executed simulation, but when you run "who", at least some of the other users are real.)

To use it, either telnet (to port 23 of) telehack.com, or for a browser-based experience, click on the link with Javascript enabled.

I'm going to run away from telehack for the moment, because it's just too damn addictive.  Don't be surprised if you don't "get it" for a few minutes... or even hours.  Just keep poking at it, figuring out what the various commands do and how they work, and see what you can make it do.  That was the addictive part of early-era computing: you didn't know what a system might be capable of, but you knew that if you kept going at it systematically, you could make it do awesome things. 

I hated that noise whenever you turned on AOL to get onto the internet  8-P


Me Too.

I have my fair share of old school internet experiences. I was first a guest in the later 90s till 2006. I do miss it. Mainly the 1999-2004 experience. I remember that sudden distinctive feel it had if I'm not already confusing it with the feel of said in general era.

I have my fair share of old school internet experiences. I was first a guest in the later 90s till 2006. I do miss it. Mainly the 1999-2004 experience. I remember that sudden distinctive feel it had if I'm not already confusing it with the feel of said in general era.


In a way I do miss AOL Instant Messenger.