inthe00s
The Pop Culture Information Society...

These are the messages that have been posted on inthe00s over the past few years.

Check out the messageboard archive index for a complete list of topic areas.

This archive is periodically refreshed with the latest messages from the current messageboard.




Check for new replies or respond here...

Subject: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: winteriscoming on 11/30/14 at 11:49 pm

I think for me it was probably about 1995 or so. Back then most people didn't use it and its continued growth still wasn't a certain thing but I'd guess that's about the time most people heard about it for the first time.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 11/30/14 at 11:51 pm


I think for me it was probably about 1995 or so. Back then most people didn't use it and its continued growth still wasn't a certain thing but I'd guess that's about the time most people heard about it for the first time.

Yeah, I think that's about right. For me it was about then when I first heard about e-mail and reading about how the internet works. (I actually didn't start using it myself until three years later.)

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/01/14 at 2:16 pm

I would say about the early to mid 1990's and that's when we got our first computer, then we got the internet around 1996.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: yelimsexa on 12/01/14 at 2:25 pm

I first heard about the term modem around 1992 and probably heard of e-mail in 1994 (though not 100% sure) since being a child always fascinates the mind, but I definitely didn't hear the word Internet (along with a Web URL) until around the summer of 1995, especially ahead of the launch of Windows 95 which basically meant that the Internet was here to stay due to its easy capability to browse. It does make me feel a bit old knowing that 2015 will mean that I've known the Web for 20 years now, though. I first used the Internet in the fall of 1996 in middle school. I've never looked at history before and after those periods the same since before then, a landline telephone was the "techiest" idea in terms of spreading ideas, with a Xerox machine a close second. I still think of 1995 as closer to the present than to 1990 in terms of feel for this reason.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: joeman on 12/01/14 at 6:43 pm

I first heard of the internet back in 1996, but I only was able to go on it at schools.  When we got a computer in early 1997, we had AOL.  We used to use up the AOL online trial and usually get a new one with the login information.  As a computer programmer today, I am glad that security got MUCH better over the years. 

My first online game was Diablo, but I was never really into it.  I was really into Civilization 3 when it came out, especially the Play the World edition as I used to play the Carthingians the entire time.  I really got into City of Heroes in 2006 too...

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: amjikloviet on 12/01/14 at 8:37 pm

I first heard about it in 1996. 

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Mish-L on 12/02/14 at 12:25 am

First heard of it around 1995.  We had dial-up from about 1995-1999 and got cable internet somewhere around 1999-2000.  Don't know the exact dates.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/02/14 at 2:26 pm

We had dial-up from about 1995-1999 and got cable internet somewhere around 1999-2000.

I remember when our family got dial-up in the early 90's then after that we switched to faster internet service.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Arrowstone on 12/02/14 at 3:02 pm

I can't remember :o
But I remember when we got internet at home,
around 99/00 and singing along with the dial up.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 12/03/14 at 5:24 am

Around 1996/97. I didn't know exactly for what you can exactly to with it before 1998 though. I don't think I have used it myself before late 1999.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/03/14 at 2:22 pm

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

remember the good old days of the internet?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Emman on 12/03/14 at 5:32 pm

Definitely in 1995.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 12/04/14 at 5:24 am

I have first heard about E-Mailing ca. 1997. I used to write classic letters back then and some day, my sister told me about a thing called "E-Mail". I have asked her if it is possible to print E-Mails, because it was very important for me to have something physical. I don't think I liked the concept first, because I really liked the stamps on classic letters.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/04/14 at 2:26 pm


I have first heard about E-Mailing ca. 1997. I used to write classic letters back then and some day, my sister told me about a thing called "E-Mail". I have asked her if it is possible to print E-Mails, because it was very important for me to have something physical. I don't think I liked the concept first, because I really liked the stamps on classic letters.


I heard about e-mailing in the late 1990's and it was possible to print them and review them later. But, nothing beats old classic letters with a stamp.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Todd Pettingzoo on 12/04/14 at 3:37 pm

I may have first heard of AOL in 1995.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Vance Jacobsen on 12/05/14 at 11:32 pm

I first heard about the internet in 1994 or so in some offhanded way.  When I was in sixth grade in 1996 I first used Yahoo in the classroom computer. Over the coming years I use my mom's email account; I did not get my own email account until I was in freshman in college in 2003.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Catherine91UK on 12/06/14 at 5:23 am

I think I first used the internet in late 1999, but I was only 8 and I can't remember when I first HEARD of the internet.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/06/14 at 6:48 am

I remember getting the internet and back then I never knew or our Family didn't know what an e-mail was and that was almost 20 years ago.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Mitch Kramer on 12/15/14 at 5:07 am

1988

That's not a typo.  Nineteen EIGHTY-eight.  So, yeah, I used the Internet about 10 years before I ever even heard of Starbucks, before I ever heard of Seinfeld, or Friends.  This was before the first web browser and I think even before the World Wide Web itself was invented.  I first used a web browser (a beta version of NCSA Mosaic) around February or March of 1993.



I think for me it was probably about 1995 or so. Back then most people didn't use it and its continued growth still wasn't a certain thing but I'd guess that's about the time most people heard about it for the first time.


Oh, yeah.  I remember there was a time when many people weren't even sure if TCP/IP was going to be the protocol of the future, or if it would be OSI  (DECnet), or X.25 or something else entirely.  Also, UNIX (ATT vs BSD) vs VMS vs Windows vs MacOS  vs etc.  CISC vs RISC.  KDE vs Gnome vs CDE vs etc.  Emacs vs vi vs EVE.  Sun vs IBM vs DEC vs NeXt vs HP vs SGI vs ....  All those religious wars seem so quaint now as well as a bit nostalgic.  In retrospect, it should've been obvious to everyone that Windows would win the desktop OS wars, but back then many people thought there were viable alternatives to "Wintel".

I remember how you built programs from source code and all the headaches with Makefiles choking on all the various flavors of UNIX.  It was an electronic Tower of Babel.  That's why I was impressed with Mosaic: it compiled cleanly on my first try; I even got it working on VMS.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: winteriscoming on 12/15/14 at 4:58 pm


1988

That's not a typo.  Nineteen EIGHTY-eight.  So, yeah, I used the Internet about 10 years before I ever even heard of Starbucks, before I ever heard of Seinfeld, or Friends.  This was before the first web browser and I think even before the World Wide Web itself was invented.  I first used a web browser (a beta version of NCSA Mosaic) around February or March of 1993.


Web was invented in March 1989 (on paper) or October-December 1990 (was coded then), depending on how you look at it, so indeed.  :o

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/18/14 at 9:31 pm

1996.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: preston181 on 12/18/14 at 10:06 pm

First time I used the Internet was on a friend of my dad's computer, around the tail end of 1995. He had a Packard Bell DX486 computer, rocking a 33Mhz processor, and a whopping 140MB hard drive.  I think it had Windows 3.1 on it. For a while, I thought Yahoo was the Internet. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was mearly a search engine.

Around 1997, I started writing webpages, (the old fashioned way, with HTML, and eventually in JavaScript), using the library computer with a blazing fast Pentium II processor and Windows 95 installed.

My family got our own PC in 1999. It was an HP with Windows 98, and a whopping 2GB hard drive. I remember Diablo coming out, and the slew of games that followed.

Today, I ironically don't use a PC at home. My iPhone has more processing power than the last computer I bought in 2007.

I imagine in another 10 years, I'll be getting online with a contact lens version of Google Glass, interfacing via Bluetooth with an iteration of the iPhone that will trump the current model by at least 10-fold.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 12/19/14 at 6:58 am

I imagine in another 10 years, I'll be getting online with a contact lens version of Google Glass, interfacing via Bluetooth with an iteration of the iPhone that will trump the current model by at least 10-fold.

A lot of people these days are using Google Glass.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 12/29/14 at 12:54 pm

It's all a blur but I think 1998 or 1999. I was only 3 and 4 then. I think I still remember calling it "intranet" as a child.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Elor on 12/29/14 at 5:43 pm

I really can't remember exactly. I believe it was around 94 or 95. We got our first internet connection in 99 or 2000 with a 56k dial up modem.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Philip Eno on 01/01/15 at 3:41 am

It was this day January 1st in 1983, The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/01/15 at 2:13 pm


It was this day January 1st in 1983, The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.


Did it have many features back then?  ???

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: winteriscoming on 01/01/15 at 8:01 pm


Did it have many features back then?  ???


File Transfer Protocol and e-mail already existed then, I think USENET too, which wasn't much different from today's Internet forums. Back in 1983 there were probably (at most) just a few thousand people using the Internet though.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/02/15 at 7:40 am


File Transfer Protocol and e-mail already existed then, I think USENET too, which wasn't much different from today's Internet forums. Back in 1983 there were probably (at most) just a few thousand people using the Internet though.


too bad Facebook, Instagram and Twitter didn't exist back in the 80's.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: popguru85 on 01/02/15 at 1:56 pm

1995-1996. I used to get those AOL free trial discs in the mail all the time and paid no mind to them. My dad eventually got dial up for his job in 1999.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/02/15 at 3:06 pm


1995-1996. I used to get those AOL free trial discs in the mail all the time and paid no mind to them. My dad eventually got dial up for his job in 1999.


I used to get those too, sometimes they'd put those discs in some magazines.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Philip Eno on 01/03/15 at 5:42 am


I used to get those too, sometimes they'd put those discs in some magazines.
AOL were criticised for its earlier incarnation as a “walled garden” community and service provider, AOL received criticism for its community policies, terms of service, and customer service. Prior to 2006, AOL was known for its direct mailing of CD-ROMs and 3½" floppy disks containing its software and viruses. The disks were distributed in large numbers; at one point, half of the CDs manufactured worldwide had AOL logos on them. The marketing tactic was criticized for its environmental cost, and AOL CDs were recognized as PCWorld’s most annoying tech product.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Elor on 01/04/15 at 9:00 am


1995-1996. I used to get those AOL free trial discs in the mail all the time and paid no mind to them. My dad eventually got dial up for his job in 1999.
We got those over here in Germany as well. I think I got dozens of them...annoying as hell. 8-P

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/04/15 at 2:35 pm


We got those over here in Germany as well. I think I got dozens of them...annoying as hell. 8-P


Why were they annoying?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Elor on 01/04/15 at 4:36 pm


Why were they annoying?
Because we wanted a different provider and had to constantly dispose of the CDs.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: KatanaChick on 01/05/15 at 1:07 am

I was in elementary school when I first heard of it because a girl brought up that some of the library computers had internet. I didn't know what that really was or think of it at all. When I first saw how it was used was at a friend's apartment when her brother was on it showing us what games he was playing or what he was messing with. I first used internet in jr. high when we had a computer class and part of that dealt with getting online and learning how to search. Our first service when we finally did get a computer was with the company it came from. Dial up and limited hours.  >:(

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: shadowcookie on 01/05/15 at 4:07 pm

We got our first computer in 1999. We had AOL dial up until 2005 or 2006, which is around the time that broadband became the norm (in the UK at least). I don't remember when exactly we got internet, sometime in the early 2000s I would presume. It was still only found in a minority of homes here until the 2004/2005 by which point it had penetrated the majority of households (but only just). Yeah, we were behind the US, but so was every developed country at the time.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Shemp97 on 01/12/15 at 9:03 pm


I really can't remember exactly. I believe it was around 94 or 95. We got our first internet connection in 99 or 2000 with a 56k dial up modem.

Intranet is a real concept that involves hooking multiple computer up to each other via a network.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Shemp97 on 01/12/15 at 9:09 pm


We got our first computer in 1999. We had AOL dial up until 2005 or 2006, which is around the time that broadband became the norm (in the UK at least). I don't remember when exactly we got internet, sometime in the early 2000s I would presume. It was still only found in a minority of homes here until the 2004/2005 by which point it had penetrated the majority of households (but only just). Yeah, we were behind the US, but so was every developed country at the time.

Dial-up was still widely used (especially as a back-up) here in Canada as late as 2008. Broadband wasn't really the norm which is why we got alot of commercials in 2007 telling people to switch. Apparently in the US, Dial-up was at 10%(down from 34% in 2000), now its 2%.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: KatanaChick on 01/13/15 at 3:14 am


Intranet is a real concept that involves hooking multiple computer up to each other via a network.

Where is it used?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Arrowstone on 01/13/15 at 5:46 am


Where is it used?


It's used in companies I think; also for security reasons (to share secret documents).

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Philip Eno on 01/13/15 at 5:49 am


It's used in companies I think; also for security reasons (to share secret documents).
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was one of the world's first operational packet switching networks, the first network to implement TCP/IP, and was the main progenitor of what was to become the global Internet. The network was initially funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, later DARPA) within the U.S. Department of Defense for use by its projects at universities and research laboratories in the US. The packet switching of the ARPANET, together with TCP/IP, would form the backbone of how the Internet works. The packet switching was based on concepts and designs by American engineer Paul Baran, Welsh scientist Donald Davies and Lawrence Roberts of the Lincoln Laboratory. The TCP/IP communication protocols were developed for ARPANET by computer scientists Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf, and also incorporated some designs from Louis Pouzin.

But that was in the 1960's.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/13/15 at 2:17 pm


Intranet is a real concept that involves hooking multiple computer up to each other via a network.


like sharing computers?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Elor on 01/13/15 at 3:00 pm


like sharing computers?
Not necessarily. It's just used to connect a certain number of computers with each other without (necessarily) being connected to the Internet. Some companies do that to make it easier to work together and share data among the work force without risking hacking or contamination through outside viruses like one could get when using the Internet for that. The data transfer rate is also usually much higher than that of the Internet.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: MilkTheCouch on 01/27/15 at 3:23 pm

Ever since I was born!

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: TheEarly90sGuy on 01/27/15 at 3:47 pm

1998

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: yelimsexa on 01/28/15 at 6:48 am


1998


There were plenty of TV commercials in late 1995, 1996, and (especially) 1997 that featured a WWW address. You may have wondered at time though as a young kid, "What are those strange symbols and letters are all about?"

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 01/28/15 at 8:35 am

The first time I noticed the string "http://www" was around 1997. I have actually written something like that on self-made audio cassettes in 1997 (self recorded speech), making them look like retail cassettes, even though it was hand-written and the URL didn't exist, of course :D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 01/28/15 at 2:38 pm


There were plenty of TV commercials in late 1995, 1996, and (especially) 1997 that featured a WWW address. You may have wondered at time though as a young kid, "What are those strange symbols and letters are all about?"


When our family got the internet, I didn't know what WWW meant so it was something new to me.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: humaeast on 02/07/15 at 10:03 am

1994. I used it to talk about Pokemon Game Boy games and Touhou in 1998.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Starlighter on 10/19/16 at 6:31 pm

I first learned about it in 1995.  I can't remember if it was because of the news, ads, or those floppy disks America Online used to send all the time, but I do remember all those being around the same time.  We signed up because of the disks.  Back then there was only dial up.  I don't think computers come with plugs for the telephone wire anymore.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/19/16 at 6:33 pm

Around the early 2000s, maybe. I wasn't sure on what was my first memory of me using the Internet, but I do remember using it since 2003.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/20/16 at 3:12 pm

It was around the mid to late 90's.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: violet_shy on 10/28/16 at 3:14 pm

I had heard about it in 1995-96. I started using it in 1997 when I was taking computer lit class in High school. Wow, that was a long time ago  :o

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/28/16 at 3:39 pm


I had heard about it in 1995-96. I started using it in 1997 when I was taking computer lit class in High school. Wow, that was a long time ago  :o


20 years ago.  :o

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: HazelBlue99 on 10/28/16 at 6:33 pm

2003 was the first year that I became aware of not only the internet, but computers as well. I actually can't remember ever seeing a computer before I was 4 years old. My pre-school used to own three Late 90s Macintosh computers, which we used to play computer games on the odd occasion. We had a PC (with dial-up) at home as well, but it was mostly only used to send/receive e-mails. That's pretty much what I only knew the internet as being; something used to send e-mails. Personally, I didn't start using the internet until I was 8 years old.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: violet_shy on 10/28/16 at 6:42 pm


2003 was the first year that I became aware of not only the internet, but computers as well. I actually can't remember ever seeing a computer before I was 4 years old. My pre-school used to own three Late 90s Macintosh computers, which we used to play computer games on the odd occasion. We had a PC (with dial-up) at home as well, but it was mostly only used to send/receive e-mails. That's pretty much what I only knew the internet as being; something used to send e-mails. Personally, I didn't start using the internet until I was 8 years old.


Well at least you were familiar with it early in life, I didn't use the internet until I was 17 that was in 1997. I have memories of using a computer when I was 13 or 14, when there was no internet. It was mostly used to send messages and play games on. The games were crude looking and weren't even fun ;D When I was in Jr high school, we never used computers and there were only typewriting classes.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/28/16 at 6:47 pm

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I started using the internet but probably 5 or 6 in 2000/2001.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 10/28/16 at 6:48 pm


I don't remember exactly how old I was when I started using the internet but probably 5 or 6 in 2000/2001.

Similarly, I didn't have it at all in my home until the early 2000s.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/28/16 at 6:49 pm


I don't remember exactly how old I was when I started using the internet but probably 5 or 6 in 2000/2001.



Similarly, I didn't have it at all in my home until the early 2000s.


I guess we have something in common. Although, I didn't start using the Internet until 2003.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/28/16 at 6:54 pm


Similarly, I didn't have it at all in my home until the early 2000s.

Oh I had it in late 1998. But I didn't use it until 2000 because what is a 3 year old gonna do with the internet lol. At least when I was 5 I was old enough do the educational activities on there.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/28/16 at 6:57 pm


Oh I had it in late 1998. But I didn't use it until 2000 because what is a 3 year old gonna do with the internet lol. At least when I was 5 I was old enough do the educational activities on there.


I was about 3 when I first used it, but I only used it to play Sesame Street games.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 10/28/16 at 6:58 pm


Oh I had it in late 1998. But I didn't use it until 2000 because what is a 3 year old gonna do with the internet lol. At least when I was 5 I was old enough do the educational activities on there.

Right. Although if the Internet had existed in 1983 (when I was 3), I probably wouldn't have used it.

1998 was the year I started using it, by the way. Specifically, when I entered college. That's half my life ago already!

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/28/16 at 6:58 pm


I was about 3 when I first used it, but I only used it to play Sesame Street games.

Yeah but the internet was more advanced when you were 3 than when I was 3. You couldn't even play online games on the internet in 1998.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/28/16 at 7:04 pm


Yeah but the internet was more advanced when you were 3 than when I was 3. You couldn't even play online games on the internet in 1998.


Well, Internet in the late 90s is archaic compared to the Internet nowadays. Although, when I first used it, my family still had dial-up. They upgraded to broadband a year later, since I love using the computer so much.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 80sfan on 10/28/16 at 10:47 pm

Beginning of second grade, around August/September 1996.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/29/16 at 7:10 am


Similarly, I didn't have it at all in my home until the early 2000s.


same here, at that time we started using our very first emails.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 10/29/16 at 2:40 pm

I first became aware of the internet sometime around late 1996/early 1997 when companies began to put their WWW addresses on their TV commercials. Of course, I had no idea what it was at the time. Most kids living in my area didn't even own a home computer, never mind have internet access. I'd say that it probably wasn't until late 1997 that I fully had a concept of what a "website" was.

I went online for the first time in late 1998 at my cousin's house, who's parents were some of the very first people in my area to get internet access. My parents finally got internet access at our house in March 2000.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/29/16 at 6:18 pm

I actually talked to my mom about this and apparently we got the internet in early 1998. The only thing they used it for was emailing friends and family overseas. It's interesting that some of you didn't get it until 1999 or 2000 because we were a pretty low income family at the time and couldn't afford a lot yet we still had it in early 1998. That was the same year we got our first computer (internet was a bundle with the computer).

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/29/16 at 6:23 pm


I actually talked to my mom about this and apparently we got the internet in early 1998. The only thing they used it for was emailing friends and family overseas. It's interesting that some of you didn't get it until 1999 or 2000 because we were a pretty low income family at the time and couldn't afford a lot yet we still had it in early 1998. That was the same year we got our first computer (internet was a bundle with the computer).


If it came with an internet disc, then I wouldn't be surprised.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/29/16 at 6:27 pm


If it came with an internet disc, then I wouldn't be surprised.

That's a very big possibility. But I do think we also had dial-up at the time. One thing I know is we didn't have dial up for a long time like some others. I think we no longer used dial up after 2001. Maybe here in Canada we are a little more technologically advanced than the U.S.  ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/29/16 at 6:37 pm


That's a very big possibility. But I do think we also had dial-up at the time. One thing I know is we didn't have dial up for a long time like some others. I think we no longer used dial up after 2001. Maybe here in Canada we are a little more technologically advanced than the U.S.  ;D


Well, mqg96 used broadband Internet since Christmas of 2001. However, most Americans were still using dial-up Internet at the time. So I guess you could say that.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 10/29/16 at 7:45 pm


I first became aware of the internet sometime around late 1996/early 1997 when companies began to put their WWW addresses on their TV commercials. Of course, I had no idea what it was at the time. Most kids living in my area didn't even own a home computer, never mind have internet access. I'd say that it probably wasn't until late 1997 that I fully had a concept of what a "website" was.


It was probably around then when I first became aware of it too, but I didn't use it for the first time until 1998. Even though I started actively using it during the second half of '98 (when I entered college), I first went on it sometime in the first half of the year (when I was a senior in high school), but only to look at the homepage of my high school's website.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 10/29/16 at 10:41 pm


I actually talked to my mom about this and apparently we got the internet in early 1998. The only thing they used it for was emailing friends and family overseas. It's interesting that some of you didn't get it until 1999 or 2000 because we were a pretty low income family at the time and couldn't afford a lot yet we still had it in early 1998. That was the same year we got our first computer (internet was a bundle with the computer).


Well, for me, my family was not only lower income, but we lived in a very rural area. I grew up in a town that had a population of less than 4,000. Internet availability was a pretty sketchy thing in our area for a good while, and more expensive at that.

I actually got my first computer in the mid '90s, but it was a used, already outdated, Commodore Amiga that we used pretty much exclusively for gaming purposes. The first "legit" computer that my parents got was a Compaq Presario in 1999. That computer also came with an AOL CD-ROM giving you a 10 hour free trial or something like that, but my dad refused to let us use it because he was convinced it was some kind of scam. ;D


That's a very big possibility. But I do think we also had dial-up at the time. One thing I know is we didn't have dial up for a long time like some others. I think we no longer used dial up after 2001. Maybe here in Canada we are a little more technologically advanced than the U.S.  ;D


That's quite impressive compared to me. We didn't finally get broadband internet at our house until the summer after my freshman year in college, in June 2006! :o


It was probably around then when I first became aware of it too, but I didn't use it for the first time until 1998. Even though I started actively using it during the second half of '98 (when I entered college), I first went on it sometime in the first half of the year (when I was a senior in high school), but only to look at the homepage of my high school's website.


Now that you mention it, I still remember the very first website I ever went to back in late 1998. It was gamepro.com, which I went on to read a review of the then-new Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This is pretty much exactly what I saw that day 18 years ago:

http://web.archive.org/web/19981111184235/http://www.gamepro.com/

I kinda miss back when the web was that simple.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 10/30/16 at 12:07 am





Now that you mention it, I still remember the very first website I ever went to back in late 1998. It was gamepro.com, which I went on to read a review of the then-new Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This is pretty much exactly what I saw that day 18 years ago:

http://web.archive.org/web/19981111184235/http://www.gamepro.com/

I kinda miss back when the web was that simple.

Yep, it has come a long way since then!  ;)

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Looney Toon on 10/30/16 at 12:31 pm


Well, mqg96 used broadband Internet since Christmas of 2001. However, most Americans were still using dial-up Internet at the time. So I guess you could say that.


mqg's family must've either had a lot of money or was pretty good at staying up to date. In the area I lived in most didn't move to broadband until 2004-2005. From 1996-2004 people still used dial up.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/30/16 at 12:41 pm


mqg's family must've either had a lot of money or was pretty good at staying up to date. In the area I lived in most didn't move to broadband until 2004-2005. From 1996-2004 people still used dial up.

No, my family was lower middle class at that time and we stopped using dial up around 2001....

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Looney Toon on 10/30/16 at 12:46 pm


No, my family was lower middle class at that time and we stopped using dial up around 2001....


Like I said. Either had a decent amount of money OR just good at keeping up-to-date with things.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/30/16 at 2:23 pm


If it came with an internet disc, then I wouldn't be surprised.



most of them came with an AOL introduction disc.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/30/16 at 2:26 pm

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/trollpasta/images/c/c7/Aimicon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622000129


Who remembers using AOL Instant Messenger?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 10/30/16 at 3:16 pm


http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/trollpasta/images/c/c7/Aimicon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622000129


Who remembers using AOL Instant Messenger?


That post reminds me of when I used to tell people that in 2010. But I did use AIM for a few things back in 2010. However, I didn't use it as much as other people did in the early-mid 2000s.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 10/30/16 at 7:27 pm


http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/trollpasta/images/c/c7/Aimicon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622000129


Who remembers using AOL Instant Messenger?

I did, mainly during the early 2000s, after I got my first AOL account.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/30/16 at 8:26 pm

The first messenger I used was MSN.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 10/31/16 at 2:56 pm


The first messenger I used was MSN.


How was it?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 10/31/16 at 3:32 pm


How was it?

It was great. I had a lot of fun using it.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Sammy Reed on 10/31/16 at 11:30 pm

For me, it was when those commercials for "Prodigy" began, in I think 1992?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: KatanaChick on 11/01/16 at 4:58 am


Well at least you were familiar with it early in life, I didn't use the internet until I was 17 that was in 1997. I have memories of using a computer when I was 13 or 14, when there was no internet. It was mostly used to send messages and play games on. The games were crude looking and weren't even fun ;D When I was in Jr high school, we never used computers and there were only typewriting classes.

How did you send messages if there was no internet on the computers?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: yelimsexa on 11/01/16 at 8:17 am


For me, it was when those commercials for "Prodigy" began, in I think 1992?


I have two recordings from 1989 with a Prodigy commercial during the breaks in my collection. However, many didn't know of the name "Internet" at the time since the tech still had that "you'll never know what it's going to evolve into next" feeling, and Prodigy was described as an "Interactive Personal Service", and this was different from the WWW Internet that we're used to, and honestly mostly didn't even hear of the "Web" as the emerging primary form of the Internet until 1995 or so, myself included.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 11/01/16 at 9:12 am


How did you send messages if there was no internet on the computers?

I think they used paper mail.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 11/01/16 at 2:31 pm


I think they used paper mail.


That was way before the internet showed up.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 11/01/16 at 5:42 pm


I think they used paper mail.

I still do that for certain things.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/06/16 at 9:02 pm

1996 or 1997 when I got my computer.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/06/16 at 9:15 pm


I actually talked to my mom about this and apparently we got the internet in early 1998. The only thing they used it for was emailing friends and family overseas. It's interesting that some of you didn't get it until 1999 or 2000 because we were a pretty low income family at the time and couldn't afford a lot yet we still had it in early 1998. That was the same year we got our first computer (internet was a bundle with the computer).


Yeah, my family got a computer in 1997 too and we were a lower-middle income family. From what I can recollect from most my friends' and family's houses though, I don't think most people got a computer until 1999.


That's a very big possibility. But I do think we also had dial-up at the time. One thing I know is we didn't have dial up for a long time like some others. I think we no longer used dial up after 2001. Maybe here in Canada we are a little more technologically advanced than the U.S.  ;D


Yeah, I agree. From what I can remember, a lot of people already had broadband in late 2001 in my neighbourhood. I'm trying to recall retroactively by the flash games that took off and people downloading songs and TV shows off Kazaa during 2001-02 school year. By the end of 2002, it didn't make sense to have dial-up anymore, Broadband was almost as cheap as dial-up on the lower tiers.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 80sfan on 11/06/16 at 9:17 pm

Why don't you suck on this, internet lovers!! Bwahahahaha!

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQdLJ3PZsHRtVM5if4kB855w9Gn1lf9-TPA7NzAL_W01QJSiZN6

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: yelimsexa on 11/07/16 at 6:44 am


Yeah, my family got a computer in 1997 too and we were a lower-middle income family. From what I can recollect from most my friends' and family's houses though, I don't think most people got a computer until 1999.

Yeah, I agree. From what I can remember, a lot of people already had broadband in late 2001 in my neighbourhood. I'm trying to recall retroactively by the flash games that took off and people downloading songs and TV shows off Kazaa during 2001-02 school year. By the end of 2002, it didn't make sense to have dial-up anymore, Broadband was almost as cheap as dial-up on the lower tiers.


That's like not getting cable TV or VCR until then or a cellphone until 2009 (or not even having a smartphone as of 2016), since the PC, VCR, and cable all were introduced in that 1976ish time and became popular by the mid-'80s, and in 1982 the computer was Time Magazine's Person of the Year. But given that your name is "Slowpoke", it is more than fitting. Even in the mid-80s, a simple Commodore 64 wasn't that expensive ($200 for just the mainframe). I found a "Black Friday" ad from 1984 offering a package consisting of an Atari 800XL computer, an Atari 1010 cassette recorder, an Atari 1027 printer, an AtariWriter, and a pair of joysticks for less than $500, with a TV as the monitor.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 11/07/16 at 6:46 am


Why don't you suck on this, internet lovers!! Bwahahahaha!

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQdLJ3PZsHRtVM5if4kB855w9Gn1lf9-TPA7NzAL_W01QJSiZN6


What do you have against Internet lovers?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: aja675 on 11/07/16 at 7:49 am

I think it was sometime in 2000-2002, and we got the Internet in 2002, when I was 5 going on 6.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/07/16 at 7:53 am




That's like not getting cable TV or VCR until then or a cellphone until 2009 (or not even having a smartphone as of 2016), since the PC, VCR, and cable all were introduced in that 1976ish time and became popular by the mid-'80s, and in 1982 the computer was Time Magazine's Person of the Year. But given that your name is "Slowpoke", it is more than fitting. Even in the mid-80s, a simple Commodore 64 wasn't that expensive ($200 for just the mainframe). I found a "Black Friday" ad from 1984 offering a package consisting of an Atari 800XL computer, an Atari 1010 cassette recorder, an Atari 1027 printer, an AtariWriter, and a pair of joysticks for less than $500, with a TV as the monitor.


https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p23-207.pdf

Percent of households with a computer (US)
1984: 8.2%
1989: 15.0%
1993: 22.8%
1997: 36.6%
1998: 42.1%
2000: 51.0%

UK Data

http://www.statista.com/graphic/5/289191/household-penetration-of-home-computers-in-the-uk.jpg

I'll be here all day for your ad hominems based on your anecdotal evidence.  ::)

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 11/07/16 at 7:58 am


https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p23-207.pdf

Percent of households with a computer (US)
1984: 8.2%
1989: 15.0%
1993: 22.8%
1997: 36.6%
1998: 42.1%
2000: 51.0%

UK Data

http://www.statista.com/graphic/5/289191/household-penetration-of-home-computers-in-the-uk.jpg

I'll be here all day for your ad hominems based on your anecdotal evidence.  ::)

What's up Slowpoke, long time no see. Where have you been?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/07/16 at 11:38 am


What's up Slowpoke, long time no see. Where have you been?


Hey Slim! Haha, thanks for asking. I've been on a month-long retreat trying to get this Chrome/Firefox web extension I'm working on on to market. I had to learn a new programming language in two weeks! (when you already know one, it's easy to learn another). I've been studying a lot of French too, and been trying to start a blog about automating the process of language-learning with scripts/software and do-it-yourself hardware. Millennium Mansion has seen some of my work  ;D

What've you been up to? :)

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 11/07/16 at 11:42 am


Hey Slim! Haha, thanks for asking. I've been on a month-long retreat trying to get this Chrome/Firefox web extension I'm working on on to market. I had to learn a new programming language in two weeks! (when you already know one, it's easy to learn another). I've been studying a lot of French too, and been trying to start a blog about automating the process of language-learning with scripts/software and do-it-yourself hardware. Millennium Mansion has seen some of my work  ;D

What've you been up to? :)

Haha nice sounds like fun. Good to have you back. I've just been hanging around these forums.  ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/07/16 at 11:50 am


Haha nice sounds like fun. Good to have you back. I've just been hanging around these forums.  ;D


Has everyone accepted my theory about the early 2000s lasting until 2007 since I left?

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 11/07/16 at 2:53 pm


1996 or 1997 when I got my computer.


I heard about it in 1995.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 11/07/16 at 5:22 pm


Has everyone accepted my theory about the early 2000s lasting until 2007 since I left?


Wow. That sounds like something YouTube would have towards its nostalgic comment sections. Mostly where it has people reminiscing the early 2000s, but it also had some mid 2000s kids in the conversation.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 80sfan on 11/07/16 at 8:30 pm


What do you have against Internet lovers?


:-X  :-X

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 11/07/16 at 9:03 pm


Yeah, my family got a computer in 1997 too and we were a lower-middle income family. From what I can recollect from most my friends' and family's houses though, I don't think most people got a computer until 1999.


Yeah, like I said, my parents didn't get their first computer until 1999 themselves. Unless you were part of an upper middle class family, it wasn't that unusual in the late '90s to not have a computer. Certainly not the point where you would get picked on or made fun of in school like you probably would today for not having a smartphone.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 11/07/16 at 11:11 pm

My family and I got our first computer in 1993, a Mac; it became obsolete very quickly and had VERY limited memory, so getting it online was way out of the question. The first computer we ever got that could go online was a PC that we got in late 2000, and began using in our home when we moved into it in early '01.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 11/11/16 at 8:38 pm

This was made in 1997. It's hilarious.  ;D
mfMrVKnGzwg

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 2001 on 11/11/16 at 9:43 pm

Oh my God that clip couldn't be more '90s if it tried. It looked like a horror movie.

Computers and the internet were so exciting in the late 1990s!

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: 80sfan on 11/12/16 at 1:00 am


Oh my God that clip couldn't be more '90s if it tried. It looked like a horror movie.

Computers and the internet were so exciting in the late 1990s!


;D  ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 11/12/16 at 7:14 am


This was made in 1997. It's hilarious.  ;D
mfMrVKnGzwg


This video is almost 20 years old.  :o

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Philip Eno on 11/12/16 at 7:35 am

As it happens, today (November 12th) in 1990, Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: nally on 11/12/16 at 10:41 am


As it happens, today (November 12th) in 1990, Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

Ah, very interesting. http://www.inthe00s.com/Smileys/webby/afro.gif

Of course it would take a few years for it to catch on...

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 11/12/16 at 12:46 pm


This was made in 1997. It's hilarious.  ;D
mfMrVKnGzwg


My God! Did we really act this corny back then? I thought I was cool back in '97, but that black haired kid with the striped shirt could easily have been me! :-[

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 11/12/16 at 5:31 pm


My God! Did we really act this corny back then? I thought I was cool back in '97, but that black haired kid with the striped shirt could easily have been me! :-[


20 years ago nobody knew much about the internet and different sites you could visit.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Slim95 on 11/15/16 at 10:04 am


My God! Did we really act this corny back then? I thought I was cool back in '97, but that black haired kid with the striped shirt could easily have been me! :-[

Lol it was indeed a different time. I feel like in the future people will call us in 2016 naive and corny as we're just now talking about the begginings of virtual reality. Those YouTube tech videos about VR that are out now will be like the equivalent of this video 20 years from now.  ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 11/15/16 at 2:43 pm


Lol it was indeed a different time. I feel like in the future people will call us in 2016 naive and corny as we're just now talking about the begginings of virtual reality. Those YouTube tech videos about VR that are out now will be like the equivalent of this video 20 years from now.  ;D


Imagine the people from 1996 looking at this video in 2016. ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Rosequartz2000 on 01/07/18 at 12:49 pm

My neighbor and best friend Elizabeth got the Internet in 1992. If you could call it the Internet. She used BBSes and looked at newsgroups, she never signed up for Usenet I think it required money LOL
I got it in Jan 1995. Immediately I went to the Barney Fun Page and the alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die newsgroup as Elizabeth showed me them before.

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Longaotian00 on 01/11/18 at 3:56 pm


This was made in 1997. It's hilarious.  ;D
mfMrVKnGzwg


Oh no, I'm so happy I wasn't alive when this was made, LOL ;D

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Rosequartz2000 on 02/04/18 at 12:46 pm

Oh crap! I remember the guide to the Internet; they showed us that in 3rd grade! I got the song stuck in my head for the rest of the day and I came off the bus into my house singing, "Take a spin now you're in for the techno set. You're going surfing on the Internet!"

Subject: Re: When did you first hear about the Internet?

Written By: Howard on 02/04/18 at 3:06 pm

I'd say the early to mid 1990's.

Check for new replies or respond here...