Old folks: When did you first access the internet?

Post Reply New Topic

I was learning DOS in the early 1980s,using a computer for studies at work.
I didn't have a home computer and access to the internet until about 1995.
I was very against it at first, but now I am totally dependent on the computer in so many ways.
It is my best form of communication and its my almost complete social life. Almost all information I access is through the computer.
My how times have changed!! !
I used to have to walk to the library and if they did not have the information I needed in one of the books present, I could order a book from another library, wait for it to come, walk back to the library again to get it, look in that book to see if it had the info I needed or wanted, mabe order yet another book....... It took weeks sometimes to answer one simple question. Hard to believe if you never experienced that, Isn't it?
Getting information on any subject today is like a verifiable, certified, true miracle to those of us who have had to get info "the old fashioned way".

Prolly around 1992, sixth or seventh grade, at home. It was a year or two before I discovered local dial-up bulletin board systems (bbs). I didn't have access at school until I went to public for eighth.

Rest in peace, Papa Smurf. Your local bbs was a great community in the 90s.

Way back when we used a 14.4k modem and a 80386 PC.

I remember BBSs with a 300 baud modem.

Before that it was the IBM 360 and a 110 baud teletype.

1997 - America Online at home

Waiting a few minutes for the picture to load.

Netscape browser

97/98(windows 98), with the aol setup disk and a telephoneline connection
until, about 2001 or -2 it was a hassle to cancel that, as son was always going over the hours that were permitted in the contract, he couldn't manage to do less, so it was nothing at all then
also we got numerous annoyed people at the door that couldn't reach us by phone

What's funny is my modem still plugs into a landline jack. But it streams just fine.

2012, the kids bought me an IPad 2.I had to figure it all out by myself.

I 1st accessed the net in high-school, 10th graders were required to take a computer applications class. All my classmates had the net at home except me. I don't know how old I was but I graduated HS in 2001 at the age of 18, I recently woke up & don't feel up to the math. We got a computer & home net the summer after I graduated but cable & DSL were not available for home users on our street. We had dial-up which was EXTREMELY slow till cable home net became available a year & a half later.