So how many of you were on the net before the web?

abydos1000 · Post by **abydos1000** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:27 pm

So how many of you were using the internet before the web even existed? Better yet, how many of you were using the net before all of the nice gui programs came around. By that I mean, you dialed into a unix or other mainframe through a 1200 bps or slower modem and did everything at the command line. Using a service provider with a gui doesn't count (ie, AOL was around in the late 80's but you didn't access the net through that).

ahhh... those were the good old days.

Bonus question: Who started AOL (or more accurately, where do it's roots come from)?

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:31 pm

Who started AOL (or more accurately, where do it's roots come from)?

Satan?

FETUS · Post by **FETUS** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:44 pm

What if you used compuserve with the master modem?

Post by **melancholy** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:06 pm

Ex-Cyber wrote:
Who started AOL (or more accurately, where do it's roots come from)?
Satan?

My guess is Satan as well. Maybe he didn't start it, but he definitely bought them out at some point.

Post by **Specially Cork** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:39 pm

When I first got internet access you had to pay the phone bill, and an extrotinate monthly fee.

But on the plus side I was gettinga a super-highspeed 33.3k connection...

FETUS · Post by **FETUS** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:41 pm

Now you got me wanting to get my commodore online again.

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:42 pm

My first experiences on the net was using my Sega Saturn with the Net Link. With that I would send e-mail, chat (in a way where you had to refresh the page to see new messages), and look at pictures of Martina Hingis.

Skynet · Post by **Skynet** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:11 pm

I know that at some point we used our amiga online with the modem you put the phone receiver on and it dials out. Either that or it was my dad's mate's modem. But I do have a hazy memory of doing that. From there I'd say I've been online since about... 96 or 97.

navi · Post by **navi** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:11 pm

I remember them days, I also remember my mom freaking out when I was looking at an Asian Video Game site and thinking the phone bill was gonna be through the roof for "calling" all the way to Asia.

Post by **Specially Cork** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:52 pm

Yeah we used to have a log book, to log when everybody connected, so we could work out the bill. It's funny really, because those days werent actually too long ago, and the internet was definitly a luxury. Now everybody I know takes it completely for granted

which is much better.

atf487 · Post by **atf487** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:50 pm

navi wrote:I remember them days, I also remember my mom freaking out when I was looking at an Asian Video Game site and thinking the phone bill was gonna be through the roof for "calling" all the way to Asia. :roll:

theres a bash.org quote about that...

but i remember having an early version of netscape on our shiny new pentium 1 with windows 3.11. it took so long to load but i was in awe, being 4 or 5 at the time (this being 1994/1995)

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:17 pm

Dialing up BBSes on our 486DX... Ahh the memories.

MetaFox · Post by **MetaFox** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:28 pm

Tasty toastman wrote:Dialing up BBSes on our 486DX... Ahh the memories.

I miss the days when there were at least a half a dozen BBSes in any given area.

I still wish I could find an archive of the door game I made way back when. It never seemed to find it's way to the web, though I did upload it to a ton of different BBSes. All of those seem to be defunct now.

mariobro · Post by **mariobro** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:22 pm

Argh... I just had a flashback...

Configuring PPP on a freakin' Mac, So my sister could use BITNET and IRC...

Now there's a memory, BITNET...

Actually a better memory for me was seeing NCSA Mosaic on a Silicon Graphics Indy Workstation. I was friends with the power geeks, so I had access to the workstation room. This was circa 1992-93.

Just seeing Tim Berners-Lee's homepage was kind of a thrill.

Then in 1994, watching "The Lion King" on a Quadra 950...

I mean the whole damn movie... not a clip.

The video window was the size of a postage stamp. But it still was amazing. I know it doesn't sound that impressive nowadays, but believe me, in those days, you would have crapped your pants too...

XPoGoX · Post by **XPoGoX** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:47 pm

What exactly could ya do befor the web was invented?...play games?.

greay · Post by **greay** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:08 pm

XPoGoX wrote:What exactly could ya do befor the web was invented?...play games?.

Learn how to make bombs.

There were bulliten boards much like this one, except you had to dial directly into the computer that hosted it.

I miss ANSI graphics.

FETUS · Post by **FETUS** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:20 pm

Godfearing greay wrote:There were bulliten boards much like this one, except you had to dial directly into the computer that hosted it.

annoying as hell too.

Code: Select all

1:BBS Discussion
2:off-topic Discussion
/2
1:I don't ever get no pussy
2:*
/1
I don't ever get no pussy
--------
Why dont I ever get no pussy

Re:I don't ever get no pussy
--------
Dude, you're a geek and girls don't think that's rad.
1:main page
2:Off-topic discussion

Remember when we first got visual web pages the great update bbs' got?
Re:I don't ever get no pussy
Re:Re:I don't ever get no pussy
Re:Re:Re:I don't ever get no pussy

Skynet · Post by **Skynet** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:45 am

Remember when we first got visual web pages the great update bbs' got?
Re:I don't ever get no pussy
Re:Re:I don't ever get no pussy
Re:Re:Re:I don't ever get no pussy

I hate those.

Reminds me of the time Boney started posting like that in null not all that long ago.

He only did it once though. Pretty sure it was him, anyway

abydos1000 · Post by **abydos1000** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 9:39 am

I remember the very first web pages. I told one of my friends this was going to change everything; he thought it was a fad that would pass.

answer to bonus question. Apple once had a service called AppleLink for internal use and business customers (Apple dealers, tech support, etc). They started that around 1985-1986 or so. You dialed into a mainframe (outsourced, don't remember) that translated gui commands from the Apple gui into command line stuff the mainframe could understand. It did the process in reverse to send information back. Usage was very expensive (the service was $15 per hour!), so the service was only affordable to business customers. Around 1987 or there abouts, Apple contacted Steve Case of Quantum electronics to develop Apple/PC Link personal edition. Both companies developed the software and the service opened to the public in late 1987/early 1988. Since the initial response was not overwhelming, Apple felt that such on-line services would not be profitable. While Apple ran the service, Steve Case had the rights to the software and the process. Apple decided to close the service and release Quantum Electronics from it's obligations. Since Apple had the trademark to the names AppleLink and PC Link, Steve Case and company developed the software further and renamed the service to American Online which started in 1989. The rest is history of course.

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 11:15 am

atf487 wrote:but i remember having an early version of netscape on our shiny new pentium 1 with windows 3.11. it took so long to load but i was in awe, being 4 or 5 at the time (this being 1994/1995)

OMG I'm getting old!