Internet Nostalgia!

[Lexi Darling]

I posted a bit about my Napster era in another thread and it got me thinking about the olden days of the interwebs. For reference, my dad is a computer programmer by trade and raised me on them from a young age. I had my own computer since 1993 and started using the internet around 1996-97, at a way younger age than most thought I should be using it. I grew up in an era of bad MIDI music, eye-bleeding Geocities backgrounds, guestbooks, webrings, and endless Flash site intros.

When did you first come online, and what are your favorite memories of that time?

[Janszoon]

My first use of the internet was doing inter-library searches in the early 90s, but I didn't know that that was the internet. I actually had never even heard the word "internet" at that time.

My first time knowingly using the internet was the summer of 1996. I spent a month or so house sitting (and dog sitting) for my cousin and she had an internet connection. I would do a search for a band I liked, then go take the dog for a walk while I waited for some fan page to load.

[Lexi Darling]

Ah yes, loading pages was awful back then. I can't count the number of times I had something like 90% of the way loaded and then my mom had to make an important phone call, haha.

One memory that sticks in my brain was in fifth grade (1999-2000) when my across the street neighbor invited me over to show me this cool site he found called "Rotten.com", haha. What a damn day that was, I'm sure you can imagine if you remember that site.

Incidentally a few years later I was at the same guy's house and I remember we played PS2 for a couple hours while he was Bearsharing the Paris Hilton sex tape. And by god if that isn't just the most 2003-ass sentence ever typed, hahaha.

[Jwb]

I never had a computer till i was like 14. That was around 2001. Used to get those free trial AOL cds in the mail and use it to talk to fake bitches online.

[jimmy jazz]

I never had a computer till i was like 14. That was around 2001. Used to get those free trial AOL cds in the mail and use it to talk to fake bitches online.

haha that's pretty much what I did also.

We had a computer in the 90s but it was black and white and very shit. Didn't have the Internet until the 00s.

@Mrs. Waffles I never went on Rotten but there was a shock site called Steak and Cheese and I imagine it was pretty similar.

[Janszoon]

One memory that sticks in my brain was in fifth grade (1999-2000) when my across the street neighbor invited me over to show me this cool site he found called "Rotten.com", haha. What a damn day that was, I'm sure you can imagine if you remember that site.

Yikes. I think I was around 24 when I first saw that site and I thought it was pretty disturbing. I can't even imagine having seen it at 13.

Incidentally a few years later I was at the same guy's house and I remember we played PS2 for a couple hours while he was Bearsharing the Paris Hilton sex tape. And by god if that isn't just the most 2003-ass sentence ever typed, hahaha.

What is Bearsharing? I must've missed that one. I never saw the Paris Hilton sex tape either, though I certainly heard about it.

[Lexi Darling]

What is Bearsharing? I must've missed that one. I never saw the Paris Hilton sex tape either, though I certainly heard about it.

Bearshare was a filesharing service like Limewire, Kazaa, that kind of thing. I think it was a lesser known one, I didn't use it myself. My neighbor used it a lot though. And I watched that sex tape, but more out of curiosity and doing it with my friend than any actual interest in the content, haha.

[Lisnaholic]

Not 10 years old like you, Mrs. Waffles: I was about 36 when I was introduced to the mysteries of the internet, and like Janszoon, it was library-based, because libraries were, by force, at the cutting edge of IT stuff.

If you sent a letter across the Atlantic by traditional post (airmail) it could take about 6 weeks before you got a reply. Obvs, telephone was instantaneous, but so expensive that I was rationing myself to one call every six months. But I had a brother-in-law working at a library in Mexico, and he found an internet address for the English university where my sister worked, so he invited me to his office: "Sit here," he said indicating a computer,"and write a message. I can send it to England." So together we wrote a message:
"Hallo, Mr. Man-At-University-In-England! Do you know Mrs.XXX? Can you give her this message, or tell her that her brother says Hi from Mexico!"
True to the excitement and novelty of it all, the guy passed on the message and in due course my brother-in-law got a reply and printed it out for me, because back then if it wasn't on paper, it wasn't quite real.

[Guybrush]

I was online around the mid 90s so my first modem was a 28.8 dial-up of some kind.

I remember how Internet didn't really have many good services back then like Wikipedia or Google Maps or YouTube. From what I remember, it was more homepages (where you'd find all sorts of weird shit) and porn. I had my own homepages, of course, that I wrote in notepad.

But my real jam was IRC back in those days. I learned how to Linux a bit and compiled and hosted / ran an IRC bot that I could create chat responses for so that people could chat with it and it was the most brilliant thing ever.

I had my own computer that I'd placed at my buddy's house and I'd basically spend my days there for most of the year. We'd nerd together.

In 2001, the online MMORPG Anarchy Online was released and it was just amazing.. like a dream come true. We could hang out and explore this enormous game world together - and with other people too. A crazy time, really, growing up with C64 games and then seeing that rapid evolution of gaming through the 90s.

[Lexi Darling]

I was online around the mid 90s so my first modem was a 28.8 dial-up of some kind.

I remember how Internet didn't really have many good services back then like Wikipedia or Google Maps or YouTube. From what I remember, it was more homepages (where you'd find all sorts of weird shit) and porn. I had my own homepages, of course, that I wrote in notepad.

But my real jam was IRC back in those days. I learned how to Linux a bit and compiled and hosted / ran an IRC bot that I could create chat responses for so that people could chat with it and it was the most brilliant thing ever.

I had my own computer that I'd placed at ny buddy's house and I'd basically spend my days there for most of the year. We'd nerd together.

In 2001, the online MMORPG Anarchy Online was released and it was just amazing.. like a dream come true. We could hang out and explore this enormous game world together - and with other people too. A crazy time, really, growing up with C64 games and then seeing that rapid evolution of gaming  through the 90s.

Nice! Most of what I browsed in the 90s was Geocities sites or similar hosting services. I remember when Google itself didn't exist and we used Ask Jeeves instead. Everything was so fractured into little niche corners of interest. I would use it to look up info on stuff I was into, and because I was a literal child, a lot of that was stuff about Beanie Babies or Pokemon or Sonic the Hedgehog. I was actually pretty invested in the online Sonic fandom back in the day. That exposed me to furries, which led me to Deviantart, which led to me discovering... a lot about myself, haha.

I didn't use the internet for socialization much, which is probably for the best since I was so young. I had a Livejournal page, and I later used Myspace a lot in my teens. I joined some forums, but never stuck around long enough to actually become part of the community. Until this one of course. 

[Mindy]

[jimmy jazz]

If you set your status to 'busy' on some versions of this, you could press the nudge button repeatedly.

 

[innerspaceboy]

I posted my response to a similar question posed in Your Earliest Forum Memories on June 1st where I said:

My earliest forum memories involve crawling ASCII bulletin board systems on my father's i386 SX 20MHz Magnavox PC - perhaps the only Magnavox computer ever sold, purchased at the short-lived Computer City big box store in 1993. The BBSes were accessed via a 2400 baud modem and introduced me to my first download - COW.TXT, which is archived online here.

I'll supplement my response with a few other notes I'd shared on MB during a Saturday Six Pack on the topic on March 22, 2022 where I added:

...I remember it fondly - a Magnavox 386 SX (single-speed) 20MHz processor with 640k of RAM and an 80MB hard drive. It featured both  3.5" and 5.25" floppy drives and shipped with MS-DOS 5.0. PC Magazine archives from 1992 indicate it retailed for $1,595.40 ($3,226.23 adjusted for inflation). I paired it with an Epson Action 3000 24-pin dot matrix printer that printed any color you wanted as long at it was grey. And it wailed like a banshee the entire time it printed.

The move from the XMODEM to ZMODEM protocol was life-changing as we could resume a crashed download and not lose the hours invested in downloading a single .BMP.

COW.TXT was my first download, and likely one of the earliest shared memes on what later became the internet.

Spent all my days on dial-up bulletin board systems in those days. (Evidently not much has changed.)

[Guybrush]

^Reminds me of ASCII porn (or pr0n) that was kinda fun. Like this:

Code Select Expand

                                      ,c="""=c,_
                                  _,j          "==c,
                              ,="`J"                "h.
                          ,r""  c="?r                  `L
                        p"          "$                  ",
                      c"            ;F `"c.                ".
                    J'            $      `h                `h.
                    J'        ,-"j"        t                `h
                  ,P          ,"            "                `h.
                ,J'          ,"        c                        `h
              J'          J'          "h                        `h
              J            /              ".                      `h.
            $            ;      ;        `h                        `$.
            $            `.      ``;  `.  .`h                        `=q
          J            `.    .  `.`; `.  .`.h                          "
          F      `.    `.;    `  `.; `.  `.?
          j'    .`.    `.\    `.` `.`?`.`.`.?:
          $    `.`.`    `.j`.`.;.`.  `.3.`.`.`L`.
        .f    `.`.`.  `.?$.`.?.`.`.`.`$`.`.`$`.`
        $      `.`.`.`.`.`.$.`.`Lc.`.`.`.h.`.`$`.`.
        j'      `.`.`.`.`.`.$.`.`.h?cccci';h`.`?L.`.`.
        J      `.`.`.`.`.`$'?h.`J?,c$?`.?hP'?""?r`.`.`
      `P      `.`.L.`.`.j'`.`."=-"`.`z?$??$$F'3F`.J.`.
      `L      `.`.`h`.`.$$??`.`.`.`.$,c$$P".`.J..J`.`.
        ?      `.`.`?i,c$$?$"3$`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.$.j'`.`.
        `h      `.`.`.$$$.$i$P".`)`.`.`.`.`.`.`.$.$.`.`.
        `r    `.`.`.;;F.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.$.$.`.P'
        ;f    `.`.`(;;h.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.$.F.`$`.`
        J"      `.`.`.t;$.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;.`.`.`.$.$.j'`.`.`
        P        .`.`.`\9;`.`.`.`.`.,c'J?.`.`.`.$;$.J.`.`.`.
      j'        .`.`.`.?C`.`.`;;`."".`.`.`.`.`.?'`h$.`.`.`.`.
        L        .`.`.`.`.h.`./.`.`,ccc$??hJ?$F.`.`.?r`.`.`.`.`.
        $        y`.`.`.`.`?i.`.;??li??"'  .$$`.`.`.`$`.`.`.`.`.`
        `) ;    ; u.`.`.`.`.`?;.`$?;  .,;c?iP.`.`.`.`?,.`.`.`.`.`. .`
        f  t    l $.`.`.`.`.``?;.`?;;;;;;iP"`.`.`.`.`;$,`.`.`.`.`.`.`  `.
        t  ) ,q l $.`.`.`.`.`.`"h.`"??""`.`.`.`.`.`.J?J`t.`.`.`.`.`.`  `.`
        "j="  "f $.`.`.`.`.`.`.`$`.`.`.`.`.`.`.``c?;;$.`.t.`.`.`.`.    `.`
                  $.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.?h`.`.`.`.`.`.j";;;9'.`.`.?.`,P.`    `.`
                  $.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`"?y`.`.`.`,J?;;;;;F`.`.`.J?".`.      `.`
                .P.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.?hccd??;;;;;;;9c$r`.`j'.`.`.    .`.`
                J`.`.`.\.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`$;;;;;;;;;;;;;$`.`P`.`.`.    .`.`
                $`.`.`.`?`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.h;;;;;;;;;;;;9`.f.`.`,P    `.`.`
                ?`.`.`.`.h.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`h;;;;;;;;;;;9`j`.`.$'    .`.`.`
                  h.`;`.l.$.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.?;;;;;;;;;;$".`.`J.`    `.`.`.`
                  ?.`P`.l.F.c.`.`f`.`.`.`.`.`?;;;;;jjii$`.`.`$.`  .`.`$`.`
                  "$.`P`J`.$.`.`h`.`.`.`.`.`.F""""`  $`.`.`$.`  ?.`.`$`.`
                    J"`$.,"$.`.`?`.`.`.`.`.`j'      ,JL.`.`$.` `3.`.`?`.`
                    `=chJ" ?.`.`.?i`.`.`.`.`$$?????""  L`.`$`.`.3r`.`(l,c
                      ,P    ?`.`.`.?.`.`.`.J"          ?`.`3`.`.`h`.`P
                      J  ,c  ?i`.`.`3`.`.`J"            "i,$"=i,J"c;P
                      j' J"    `h.`.`3`.`_J"
                      $ J"      ?`.`3P""'
                    ,LJ'        h._$
                    J" .          `"            -c,
                  j'(r "??cc,,_                  h  $
                  3.P          `"""""=c,,_        ? `L       
                zP""??cc,__              "=,_      ? ".      L
              .P          ""??cc,_          "=c_  $ ".    $      .
              ,"                  `"h,_          `=c. $ ".    h      $
            ,J'                        `"==c,        `"$h ".    $    .F
          ,"        """===cc,,,            "?c,        "??h  `L    J
        J'                                    "=c,_      `?.  ?.  P
        J'                                          "c,      `?. h  j'
      ,J??;;??$c,,_    `=cccc,                        "r        $$  $
    c"`.`.`.`;;;;;;??c,._        "=c                  .  "h.      3 .f
  J??P`.`.`.`.`.;;;;;;;;;??;"==ccy, "c                `h    "c,  3 j
,$i;;P`.`.`.`.`.`;;;;;;;;P`.`;ccc,"c `h                ".    "h. j.$
'hC;9F`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;;;;F.`.$9?;h;;$F  ?.                ".    "?$'
 ?h;P.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;;;j'.`3;;???;;$?L  ?.                  "c    $
  $P`.`.`.`.`.`.`.,;;;;9`.`?h;;;;;?'`.h  ?                    "h  $
  ?;`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;;;9`.`.`"????`.`.?L                        "h $
  $`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;;;;9`.`.`.`.`.`.`.``h                        `$
    L.`.`.`.`.``;;;;;;;?`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`$                  `,    $
    `L`.`.`.`.`;;;j;;;;;L.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.?.                  ",  ?.
      ?i`.`.`.;;;j;;;;;;?;`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.h                  `,  L
      `?i..`,;;$;;';;;.`.h.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`?c                  $  h
          "?h$??F.``;;;.`.;$c.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`$L                `h  J
              $;`.`;;`.`.`;;?hy_.`.`.`.`.`.`,c$$h.              ?.j'
              .$`.`.;;`.`.`.;;;;"??$ccyyyccJ??;;;$3c              $$
              j'`.`.;.`.`.`.`.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;$`h              `$
            .$.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.``;;;;;;;;;;;;;;.`;;;$ "c            $
            j'.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;$. "c          $-
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;$.  $L,        $
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;$  `h "h    .$  ,P
            F`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;h  `h  "h  ;F. $
            C`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;L  `r  $, $ ?,f
            h`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;9r  ?  `fcF  $
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;$  L  $  j'
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;;$  $  $  J'
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;;;?h `cc='  J'
            $`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.,;;;;;;9.J    $
            ?`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`,;;;;;;;$$'    $
            `h.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.,;;;;;;;9"      $
              $.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.;;;;;;;;9        "h
              $.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;;;;;;;$          c????c
              j.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`;;;;;;;;;9        .P


[SGR]

How bout some Youtube nostalgia?