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Small talk: Getting online for the first time

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AllThatJazzZ:

--- Quote from: Ghost Bear on July 26, 2021, 01:48:15 am ---If I remember right it was in February or March of 1988 when I first logged into CompuServe. I used our home phone line and the 300 baud modem built into one of these:



I was very nervous, but it was like a huge world suddenly became accessible. I don't think I would want to live without the Internet now. It just has too much to see and read.

--- End quote ---

@Ghost Bear

It's funny how quickly things become antiquated these days. That technology was spot on back when.

I was limited on funds but extremely curious about what this WWW thing was all about. The cheapest way I could get online in '98 was via WebTV. It was clunky and cumbersome, but I was finally online!

I remember discovering midi files and thinking that that was the bees knees. OMG! I was so green. I found a picture and article about my uncle who had survived WW2 only to lose his life shortly after in an accident. I was shocked when I discovered it. It told of some hits his ship took in WW2 and I was stunned that this WWW thing had so much info about my uncle!

It wasn't too long after that when I got a modem for my computer, and I was off to the races. There was a chatroom on Homestead that was frequented by several of us from FR. We had great conversations and great hilarity in there. Some of the people I used to chat with are still around. A small group of us are still friends and stay in touch via email these days.

I joined a few message boards and made friends and enemies over the years. Had some great fun smacking leftist around. I don't do social media. It's kinda creepy to me. I like being able to connect with people online, but there are times when I sincerely wish we could turn the clock back and wipe out the internet altogether. I believe it contributes to so many of our societal ills. But since I can't change that, I'll just enjoy the WWW ride in the safest lane possible.

AllThatJazzZ:

--- Quote from: Elderberry on July 26, 2021, 02:28:22 am ---1982 pre-WWW. "English scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989". 300 baud modem that cradled the phone handset. I was using a VT100 Terminal that enabled me to utilize Archie, Gopher, Veronica and Jughead.



--- End quote ---

@Elderberry

That pic reminded me of the Wang word processors. I never used one. Where I worked, we had the DECmates. It's so funny to think back to those days. We thought we'd arrived. No more typewriters! Mistakes were easily corrected. Could it get anymore advanced than this?!  :silly:

I still get a chuckle when I think of my friend who came over when I got my first computer. She didn't have any hands-on with the use of a mouse, so watching her try to coordinate the hand and the eye was LOL hilarious.

Elderberry:
I didn't use my VT100 much once I left school Dec 82. I started at NASA JSC Aug83 as an Integrator/Tester/CM. We had no access to computers at the office. All our work was done at JSC on teletypewriters. Although so slow and cumbersome, I loved the fact that it was so easy to verify the work done by a fellow integrator, as every keystroke was printed out. The next year secretaries got IBM PCs. I would work late so that I could get on their machines. As time went by, I heard that co-workers had home computers. I'd ask "what do you do with them?". I'd get answers like. "keep my recipes on them" or "reconcile my bank account". All stuff I could see done on paper just as well. It was only after we had our first child I picked up a used 386. I had to raise my son in the "Computer Age". Once I got online with a 1200 baud modem, I was hooked. To me it was all about "Access to Information". I started my son on simple "keybanger" game programs and he took off from there.

Kamaji:
First, first time online?  1984 on a high school friend's father's NRL-based home terminal - ARPANET before it became the internet.  Then a few BBS, including one where one had to write an essay and apply for membership.

All on a pitifully slow dial-up.

Cyber Liberty:
I started in the mid 80's.  Commodore C64, with a 300 baud modem.  I quickly went to a Hayes 1200.  I had to build the RS232 interface from scratch.  I found Gopher handy, and I had Q-Link to talk to my first "online community."  GEOS was the first GUI I ever saw, and when they got Macs at work I was already trained for GUIs.

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