svmYyeRY11o

Judging from a lot of comments I've seen posted here, a lot of people forget the dial-up era.  I was a late adopter of broadband service, not getting it until 2004, but it wasn't until 2006 that a majority of US Internet users connected via broadband. If you were a techie, you probably had broadband in 2000 or 2001.  In the '90s however, unless you are one of the lucky few, you had dial-up.  You had to wait 30 minutes for an mp3 song to download.  If you had a large download you wanted to do - something like a software update or anything over 10MB of so, it was going to be an all-night thing.  If you had a crappy ISP like Netzero, Juno, etc, it would kick you off after three hours so there was no way to download anything you couldn't download within that amount of time.  Getting on the Internet was an evening event.  If you only had one phone line, nobody could call you while you were surfing.  Most people still used analog phone books, encyclopedias, and AAA Road Atlases because those things weren't considered important enough to get online, wait for, and tie up the phone line trying to access.  You also had MS Encarta, an offline CD-ROM based encyclopedia that actually had some excellent content.

All websites of the era were designed with dial-up in mind so they looked much different.  Here is a slideshow that shows some popular websites during that era.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/best-websites-90s_n_2542393.html#slide=2021319

Here is another page that links to several sites from the late '90s that were just abandoned and that still work.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/53792/17-ancient-abandoned-websites-still-work

I went from dialup to fios in 2009. Quite the leap!

I went from dialup to fios in 2009. Quite the leap!


I would say so.

I thought I was late to the party in 2004.  Past around 2007 I don't see how dial-up was even usable as sites by that point were designed for broadband connections.

I had dial up all the way through the 2000's decade. Because cheap.  ::)

I would say so.

I thought I was late to the party in 2004.  Past around 2007 I don't see how dial-up was even usable as sites by that point were designed for broadband connections.


It wasn't. I joked that I had just come out of the caveman era.


This meant that I had to wait a literal hour for youtube videos. At the height of their popularity.

Argh!

svmYyeRY11o

Judging from a lot of comments I've seen posted here, a lot of people forget the dial-up era.  I was a late adopter of broadband service, not getting it until 2004, but it wasn't until 2006 that a majority of US Internet users connected via broadband. If you were a techie, you probably had broadband in 2000 or 2001.  In the '90s however, unless you are one of the lucky few, you had dial-up.  You had to wait 30 minutes for an mp3 song to download.  If you had a large download you wanted to do - something like a software update or anything over 10MB of so, it was going to be an all-night thing.  If you had a crappy ISP like Netzero, Juno, etc, it would kick you off after three hours so there was no way to download anything you couldn't download within that amount of time.  Getting on the Internet was an evening event.  If you only had one phone line, nobody could call you while you were surfing.  Most people still used analog phone books, encyclopedias, and AAA Road Atlases because those things weren't considered important enough to get online, wait for, and tie up the phone line trying to access.  You also had MS Encarta, an offline CD-ROM based encyclopedia that actually had some excellent content.

All websites of the era were designed with dial-up in mind so they looked much different.  Here is a slideshow that shows some popular websites during that era.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/best-websites-90s_n_2542393.html#slide=2021319

Here is another page that links to several sites from the late '90s that were just abandoned and that still work.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/53792/17-ancient-abandoned-websites-still-work
This is absolutely true. some people forgot that most still had dial-up in the early 00s and also still used phone books and encyclopedias. Not only that, but I feel that the 2000s were half analog and half digital. As for the MP3 downloading, didnt that start with Napster?

I bought my first computer (a Compaq Presario) in 1998 or 1999, and while I was excited about finally getting online and being able to explore the Internet, I also remember telling my brother that I knew right away that what I had just bought was basically a Model T Ford of computers and that there was much room for improvement. And it sure didn't take very long for it to become obsolete and I couldn't wait to get a newer one.

In about 2003 or '04, I bought a new Hewlett-Packard and gave my old, by-then antiquated Compaq to my parents, who were in their 60's at the time. And they didn't take to it very quickly. Sometimes I wonder if it was common for people to buy new computers and give their old obsolete ones to their parents, and naturally the older people had trouble with them and they just assumed that this was because they didn't understand this newfangled technology when the real problem was that they were just trying to use an old piece of junk that didn't work right anymore. (Also, at around that time I had switched from dial-up to high-speed Internet whereas my parents hooked the Compaq to a 56K dial-up modem and I hated using it whenever I was at their house visiting. I'd damn near pull my hair out waiting for that stupid thing to load pages.)

I had another thought just now. I was in an antique store the other day, and as I was looking around I saw several vintage stereos and AM radios which were made from the 1980's all the way back to the 1940's, and not only did they still work but they still have a useful function. You can buy an antique radio, plug it in and turn it on, and it still serves its purpose just fine. The sound quality may not be as good as a newer radio but it'll still do what it was made to do almost as good as a new one.

The same goes for old video games. Although I didn't see any in this particular store, I'm sure I wouldn't have to look very hard to find an old Atari 2600 or Intellivision (and some game cartridges), plug it into my TV, and relive my childhood. My old Nintendo NES is still in my parents' basement hooked up to one of their old TV's, and every once in a while I like to fire it up and play Super Mario Brothers or Mike Tyson's Punch Out.

(Not to mention that I love old cars and I hope to own one someday.)

However, I did not see one single old computer, and I might be wrong but I doubt you'll ever see one in any antique or thrift stores. I like retro/antique stuff just like most people here do, but I just can't see getting any kind of joy from buying an old 1990's era Packard Bell with a 200 mHz Pentium, plugging it in, hooking the modem up to an old landline and trying to surf the Internet with it.  :P

Before getting broadband, I had ISDN between 2000 and 2004. It was a digital line, slightly faster than dial-ip (download speed about 7 kilobytes per second) and you could use the phone when you were on-line. It was fast enough for most sites back then, but way to slow for today's WWW. I don't however distinguish between being on-line with ISDN vs. being on-line with broadband. Both is the internet and even in the early 00s, a lot of information and services were already available. I wouldn't consider this time to be analog at all.

This is absolutely true. some people forgot that most still had dial-up in the early 00s and also still used phone books and encyclopedias. Not only that, but I feel that the 2000s were half analog and half digital. As for the MP3 downloading, didnt that start with Napster?


MP3 downloading started with Napster.  MP3 players at the time however were clunky and archaic.  You downloaded MP3s and then used a program like Nero Burning Rom to burn an Audio CD.


Before getting broadband, I had ISDN between 2000 and 2004. It was a digital line, slightly faster than dial-ip (download speed about 7 kilobytes per second) and you could use the phone when you were on-line. It was fast enough for most sites back then, but way to slow for today's WWW. I don't however distinguish between being on-line with ISDN vs. being on-line with broadband. Both is the internet and even in the early 00s, a lot of information and services were already available. I wouldn't consider this time to be analog at all.


Agreed.  ISDN was 128Kbps which was plenty fast for an adequate Internet experience in the early '00s.  Once streaming started to become more popular it became less usable. 

Agreed.  ISDN was 128Kbps which was plenty fast for an adequate Internet experience in the early '00s.  Once streaming started to become more popular it became less usable.


You could only get 128 Kbps over here in Germany if both ISDN lines were used. The price was exactly twice as much as the regular rate per minute if you wanted to occupy both lines. You also couldn't use the phone then.

The regular speed was 64 Kbps (ca. 7 KB/min.). It was still not too slow for the typical websites of the first half of the 2000s.

MP3 downloading started with Napster.  MP3 players at the time however were clunky and archaic.  You downloaded MP3s and then used a program like Nero Burning Rom to burn an Audio CD.
Thats what my family did. we had mix CDs to listen to in the car, but I think they used a different program to burn the CDs. Did the first MP3s look like this?

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/products/large/1145/done-rio-pmp300.jpg?1314029594]

I went from dialup to fios in 2009. Quite the leap!


We rid ourselves of dial-up by the early 2000's.

This meant that I had to wait a literal hour for YouTube videos. At the height of their popularity.


But didn't you have to wait for someone to get off the phone?

You could only get 128 Kbps over here in Germany if both ISDN lines were used. The price was exactly twice as much as the regular rate per minute if you wanted to occupy both lines. You also couldn't use the phone then.


cause people were tying them up with their phone calls. ::)

But didn't you have to wait for someone to get off the phone?

Yes. Then I learned it's best to download things while sleeping.

Yes. Then I learned it's best to download things while sleeping.


How is that possible?

How is that possible?

Leave the computer to download things in the middle of the night

Leave the computer to download things in the middle of the night


Oh Yeah I've done that plenty of times.

What was the longest you guys had to wait before you needed to use the computer?

What was the longest you guys had to wait before you needed to use the computer?


The whole day. "But I'm expecting a call!"

I found out that I could save the documents I liked (mainly video game guides and such...) to my computer, so I could use it without having to tie up the line.

MP3 downloading started with Napster.  MP3 players at the time however were clunky and archaic.  You downloaded MP3s and then used a program like Nero Burning Rom to burn an Audio CD.

Agreed.  ISDN was 128Kbps which was plenty fast for an adequate Internet experience in the early '00s.  Once streaming started to become more popular it became less usable.

I was on Napster when I was 15! I would chat the day away with other users. Then I joined BearShare, a not as good program, but it worked. I didn't think there were MP3 players in the early 2000's. My first was bought in 2009 and it was a Coby brand pill shaped thing. It broke fast.  :(

There were MP3 players in the early 00s - for example the iPod, but they weren't very common. I bought my first MP3 player in 2004. It was a USB flash drive and only had 128 MB. It was also very expensive. Nowadays, I use my smartphone.

The whole day. "But I'm expecting a call!"

I found out that I could save the documents I liked (mainly video game guides and such...) to my computer, so I could use it without having to tie up the line.


How did you do that?

I was on Napster when I was 15! I would chat the day away with other users. Then I joined BearShare, a not as good program, but it worked. I didn't think there were MP3 players in the early 2000's. My first was bought in 2009 and it was a Coby brand pill shaped thing. It broke fast.  :(


There was also Limewire too.

There was also Livewire too.

Limewire. Frostwire was another version. Kazaa was a popular one I heard about, but it could harm your computer I think. Scour went to a pay service.

How did you do that?


File -> Save

Limewire. Frostwire was another version. Kazaa was a popular one I heard about, but it could harm your computer I think. Scour went to a pay service.


I think they still have file sharing services. ???