Personally for me I remember hearing the dial up sound a lot from my early childhood years. However I personally didn't use the internet myself until 2001 or 2002 and even then I would only play flash games on the interwebs. My family eventually got broadband in 2003 along with Windows XP but I still preffered to play outside or sometimes play Solitaire on the computer. I didn't use the internet regularly like I do today until 2005 or 2006

The first time that I went on the Internet was around 2003. I had Windows ME at the time and I would just play Sesame Street games. Then I played games on PBS Kids and Nick Jr's websites a short time later.

The first time that I went on the Internet was around 2003. I had Windows ME at the time and I would just play Sesame Street games. Then I played games on PBS Kids and Nick Jr's websites a short time later.


Thats cool. Do you remember dial up by any chance?

Thats cool. Do you remember dial up by any chance?


I think I remember hearing a dial-up noise once around 2003, but that was about it. My family switched to broadband around 2004, since I loved using the Internet back then.

I think I remember hearing a dial-up noise once around 2003, but that was about it. My family switched to broadband around 2004, since I loved using the Internet back then.


Thats cool! Yeah when my family switched in 2003 I was heavily relieved

2000! dial-up until 2003.

I think I first used the Internet in 2000/2001, but I would have to ask my parents permission to use it, since I was only eight at the time and I had to use their computer.  I think by 2002, I was browsing the web regularly.

Personally for me I remember hearing the dial up sound a lot from my early childhood years. However I personally didn't use the internet myself until 2001 or 2002 and even then I would only play flash games on the interwebs. My family eventually got broadband in 2003 along with Windows XP but I still preffered to play outside or sometimes play Solitaire on the computer. I didn't use the internet regularly like I do today until 2005 or 2006


I remember getting the internet but I didn't quite use it until the early 2000's.

Thats cool. Do you remember dial up by any chance?


I remember dial-up, it took forever to get on the internet!

Late 1999, I think. I used it at school first, then we got dial-up at home in 2000 and switched to broadband in 2005.

I think sometime in 2000/01 as my family had gotten it earlier in 1999. I began using the Internet first with AOL and didn't use much often until 2006.

Very late 1998.

I was like 3 or 4 years old so I barely remember but probably around 1998. I think this should be on the 1990's forum because most people first used the internet in the 90's.

I was like 3 or 4 years old so I barely remember but probably around 1998. I think this should be on the 1990's forum because most people first used the internet in the 90's.


Well, the Internet started to gain its peak around the late 90s/early 2000s. So, it's okay for this thread to be on the 2000s forum.

Well, the Internet started to gain its peak around the late 90s/early 2000s. So, it's okay for this thread to be on the 2000s forum.


I started using it in the early 2000's.

I started using it in the early 2000's.
I was about then, using Internet Cafes.

About half of the people (in the west) did not have it before 2000.

About half of the people (in the west) did not have it before 2000.

Really? I thought most people got it in the late 90s but it was just really slow. I know it started in 1996 and that's when people started hearing about it. Interesting.

I was about then, using Internet Cafes.


I think I used to use Internet cafes but they weren't for long periods.

I think I used to use Internet cafes but they weren't for long periods.
Maximum one hour at a time.

Personally for me I remember hearing the dial up sound a lot from my early childhood years. However I personally didn't use the internet myself until 2001 or 2002 and even then I would only play flash games on the interwebs. My family eventually got broadband in 2003 along with Windows XP but I still preffered to play outside or sometimes play Solitaire on the computer. I didn't use the internet regularly like I do today until 2005 or 2006


The first time I ever used the internet was at my cousin's house in early November 1998, and the first website I went to was for the video game magazine Game Pro so I could look up information on Zelda:OOT, which was just about to come out at that time. We didn't get internet access at our house until March 2000, but even after that I rarely used it, because our dial-up service was just terrible. It would routinely take over a minute for one simple page to load, you would get disconnected constantly, and downloading any kind of music or video was nothing but a pipe dream.

Not to mention that if anybody needed to use the telephone, you had to disconnect from the net! I bet that some kids today would be shocked to learn that there was a time when you couldn't surf the web and talk on the phone at the same time.

The first time I ever used the internet was at my cousin's house in early November 1998, and the first website I went to was for the video game magazine Game Pro so I could look up information on Zelda:OOT, which was just about to come out at that time. We didn't get internet access at our house until March 2000, but even after that I rarely used it, because our dial-up service was just terrible. It would routinely take over a minute for one simple page to load, you would get disconnected constantly, and downloading any kind of music or video was nothing but a pipe dream.

Not to mention that if anybody needed to use the telephone, you had to disconnect from the net! I bet that some kids today would be shocked to learn that there was a time when you couldn't surf the web and talk on the phone at the same time.


Or they can just go on YouTube to look up of what dial-up Internet was.

Maximum one hour at a time.


cause sometimes our home computer would be on the fritz so My Mother and I would need a place to check our emails.

2000. I was in computer class during 4th grade.

Maybe once in 2003 at my aunt's house, we had Internet, but I never really used it until around 2006.

The first time I used a computer was sometime in 2003 at Pre-school, however I didn't access the internet until sometime in 2007. To be honest, I can't exactly remember when I accessed the internet for the first time. In Pre-school and until Year 3, we only used to play educational computer games, which taught us how to properly use a keyboard and a computer mouse. At the end of 2007, when I was eight years old, we were taught how to type on a keyboard using multiple fingers. However, I never quite picked up on it and even to this day, I still only type with two fingers (one finger from each hand).

By 2008, I was starting to use the internet on a more regular basis. During school breaks, I would google the medal tally for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Most of the time, right up until as recently as Late 2010, I mostly used a computer just to play computer games. Wikipedia and ninemsn were pretty much the only websites I used to access on the internet. Admittedly, I have only been using a computer on a daily basis since Christmas 2010, when I received my first Laptop as a Christmas present. Also, I think it's interesting to read that many of you stopped using dial-up in 2003. We still had dial-up until Late 2010, when we finally sold our PC and replaced it with our own laptops.

By the way, this was the type of computer that I used at pre-school and primary school. A 1998 Macintosh computer:

http://imac-medres.jpg

My school still had them in 2011, my final year of primary school. There was one computer room in the school which had the most recent Apple computers in it, however the rest of the computers (around the school) were 1998 Macintosh computers.

1999 I think, could've been earlier. I was talking to relatives on MSN. I used it sporadically until I got broadband in 2003.

I think it was after 1996.

2000

At first, we had Juno on dial up. Then we switched to Broadband sometime around 2002-2003.

2000

At first, we had Juno on dial up. Then we switched to Broadband sometime around 2002-2003.


Man, you must've been the second person that got broadband here on this website.

Man, you must've been the second person that got broadband here on this website.


2001-2003 is when I noticed more people getting broadband. By 2005 maybe 15% of people had dial up, the rest had broadband.

2001-2003 is when I noticed more people getting broadband. By 2005 maybe 15% of people had dial up, the rest had broadband.


Well, broadband was more prevalent than dial-up in the mid 2000s. So, it wasn't that easy finding a person with dial-up Internet at the time.

2002

I have been trying to work out when I first had the Internet at home, it must had been around 1999 or 2000, but I know for syre, I was online at home on the day of 9/11/2001. It was still dial-up then, and had broadband in 2005 in readiness for a home university computer course.

March 2002

March 2002


What were your favorite websites growing up?

What were your favorite websites growing up?

Toonami.com and Nick.com, as well as the PBS Kids site.

Toonami.com and Nick.com, as well as the PBS Kids site.


Ooh. I loved the PBS Kids site when I was little. I usually played the Sesame Street games when I was 3 and 4, while I played some other games on the site during 2005 and 2006.

Ooh. I loved the PBS Kids site when I was little. I usually played the Sesame Street games when I was 3 and 4, while I played some other games on the site during 2005 and 2006.

Yep, me too! Some of my favorites were...
The Boohbah kaledioscope game as well as the one where you made them dance
The Sesame Street game where you made your own monster character
The George Shrinks game where you put together the car (I STILL remember the sound when you put a piece in the wrong spot!)
The Teletubbies animal parade game
Do you remember a Barney castle game? I seem to remember that...
The Beetween the Lions game with the words like break, creak, etc. and their corresponding animations

What else do you remember on the site?

Yep, me too! Some of my favorites were...
The Boohbah kaledioscope game as well as the one where you made them dance
The Sesame Street game where you made your own monster character
The George Shrinks game where you put together the car (I STILL remember the sound when you put a piece in the wrong spot!)
The Teletubbies animal parade game
Do you remember a Barney castle game? I seem to remember that...
The Beetween the Lions game with the words like break, creak, etc. and their corresponding animations

What else do you remember on the site?


I think I remember something like that, since I did like those shows when I was little. I also remember going on the Sagwa section of the site, before it got taken down by PBS Kids.

Holy sheesh! Sagwa! I remember her and her show, yes, I went on that section too.

Roughly around November/December 1997. My third grade class had one computer with the internet.

But our family didn't have our own computer with internet until 2000.

Holy sheesh! Sagwa! I remember her and her show, yes, I went on that section too.


I used to love watching Sagwa as a kid, but I was really into the website on PBS Kids. I think I played some of the coloring games with Sagwa back then.  :D

I used to love watching Sagwa as a kid, but I was really into the website on PBS Kids. I think I played some of the coloring games with Sagwa back then.  :D

Me too, but I thought she was Japanese, not Chinese! Even though it said she was Chinese and Siamese RIGHT in the title! :-[

Me too, but I thought she was Japanese, not Chinese! Even though it said she was Chinese and Siamese RIGHT in the title! :-[


I always thought she was Chinese, since it did take place in that country.

I was born in Japan and moved to New York when I was 2 months old. My parents taught me the language at home while I learned English through school.

I first started using the internet early in 2002. My first email account was with AOL!

I first started using the internet early in 2002. My first email account was with AOL!

Mine, too! AOL was the one that provided the Nintendo Service that helped you out in Toonami's Trapped in Hyperspace game, if I recall.

What were your favorite websites growing up?


I remember Geocities, AOL and Yahoo.

I first started using the internet early in 2002. My first email account was with AOL!


mine was with Go.com till couple years later it was Disney who took over Go.

I'm using the Wayback Machine to replay all the PBS Kids games. I was wrong about Make-a-Monster, that was on the official Sesame Street site rather than the PBS Kids section. I do remember Elmo's World Rhyming...

I'm using the Wayback Machine to replay all the PBS Kids games. I was wrong about Make-a-Monster, that was on the official Sesame Street site rather than the PBS Kids section. I do remember Elmo's World Rhyming...


Somehow, I was obsessed with the Elmo's World section up until I was about 5.

I remember feeling so excited when we got our first laptop with AOL in 2000! I was only 11. Amazing!

I remember feeling so excited when we got our first laptop with AOL in 2000! I was only 11. Amazing!


You had a laptop in 2000?  :o

I thought I was early when I got one in 2004  ;D

You had a laptop in 2000?  :o

I thought I was early when I got one in 2004  ;D


Technically, my brother did. All of us kids, and my mother, shared it.

In 2000 it was still common for me to visit the local library in order to use the internet.

In 2000 it was still common for me to visit the local library in order to use the internet.


I didn't start using the internet, regularly, until 2001. 

I don't remember when I first used the Internet - maybe sometime in 2003? But I was using it often by 2006, when I was 9/10.

For some reason I always felt that the Internet era started in 1994. I'm not sure why.

I do not know precisely when, but I know where. It was at an Internet cafe which has now been long gone.

You had a laptop in 2000?  :o

I thought I was early when I got one in 2004  ;D


Yeah, I didn't get my first laptop until 2007, and even then they were really just starting to get to the point where the more affordable ones were worth buying.

Laptops for most of the '90s were brutal. To get one that had even a respectable amount of battery life, storage space and memory was going to run you somewhere around $2,000, even more than that in the first half of the decade if you wanted one with a color screen. And it was even worse before that. The Toshiba T5200 from back in 1989 was an x386 machine with a 100 MB hard drive and a 13" VGA display that was priced at over $11,000! :o :o

I do not know precisely when, but I know where. It was at an Internet cafe which has now been long gone.


I definitely remember playing games at an Internet cafe in 2004. Your post just sparked that memory for me, haha.

I'd say 1998.

Very late to the game I first properly started using the internet in 2008

Very late to the game I first properly started using the internet in 2008


Wow!!

What's it like not using the Internet before 2008?

Wow!!

What's it like not using the Internet before 2008?


It felt like I was totally out of the loop when I did discover it lol

I don't even fully remember when I first used the Internet but it was in 2005-2007. However, I've known of computers and the Internet since I was 3 (2002).

I remember going on the Fox Kids and Cartoon Network websites a lot when I was around 5-7, but it was with my parents or older sister's help. I didn't start using the internet on my own until I was about 9.

I think 2000.

We had Juno dial-up Internet for a while, then eventually switched to Broadband in 2004 I believe.

I first heard about the internet in 1996, but didn't use it for the first time until 1998. We lived in a very rural area growing up, and most people I knew didn't even have a computer until the early '00s.

My Aunt and Uncle were some of the first folks in our area to get the internet in 1997, and I finally got on at my cousin's house in the fall of 1998. The first website I ever went to was gamepro.com so I could look up information about the then-upcoming "Zelda 64". Here's what I saw that first time.

http://web.archive.org/web/19981202230101/http://www.gamepro.com/index2.html

I first heard about the internet in 1996, but didn't use it for the first time until 1998. We lived in a very rural area growing up, and most people I knew didn't even have a computer until the early '00s.

My Aunt and Uncle were some of the first folks in our area to get the internet in 1997, and I finally got on at my cousin's house in the fall of 1998. The first website I ever went to was gamepro.com so I could look up information about the then-upcoming "Zelda 64". Here's what I saw that first time.

http://web.archive.org/web/19981202230101/http://www.gamepro.com/index2.html

That's pretty cool. I think the first website I visited was PBSkids.org.

What was everyone's first music internet site you first visited on the web?

What was everyone's first music internet site you first visited on the web?


Yahoo! Music was my jam. :)

I got music recommendations from mp3.com. I also liked playing the Windows Media Player radio every now and then, even though that's technically not a website.

Yahoo! Music was my jam. :)

I got music recommendations from mp3.com. I also liked playing the Windows Media Player radio every now and then, even though that's technically not a website.



I think mine was Rhapsody.com

I remember going on the Fox Kids and Cartoon Network websites a lot when I was around 5-7, but it was with my parents or older sister's help. I didn't start using the internet on my own until I was about 9.

Do you remember Swayzak by any chance? The virus from Toonami's Trapped in Hyperspace game? I remember when you beat the fifth and final level, he broke down screaming "NO! WHYYYYYY?"
Anyone else know what I'm talking about?

1995. I discovered alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die and the Barney Fun Page (my neighbor would look at  that newsgroup and site all the time) and Sega's website (did they have one then?) I also remember the Space Jam website, and it's still up to this day! Junior Jam, Jam Central, Planet B-Ball, Lunar Tunes...