Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

SgtRamonRuiz t1_iu3z3rc wrote

With no internet

33

dasoomer t1_iu41yw3 wrote

It would be 4 years or so until the public Internet was introduced even. Crazy to think about.

17

Old-and-grumpy t1_iu5t2j8 wrote

You could email though. My brother and I used to write one another back then from different college campuses.

2

over__________9000 t1_iu88j3b wrote

They had public internet in 1989

0

dasoomer t1_iu8lddl wrote

Incorrect. Internet became public domain in 92/93. You're talking about the commercial availability which is entirely different.

1

over__________9000 t1_iu8p5gq wrote

Are you thinking of the web? That’s a separate thing from the internet.

1

dasoomer t1_iu8q7xg wrote

The public Internet, which your average Joe could use and sign up for in home use, was early 90s.

I was alive. We were one of the first people to get it.

1

dasoomer t1_iu8qvke wrote

In the early 1990s the Internet was big news ... In the fall of 1990, there were just 313,000 computers on the Internet; by 1996, there were close to 10 million. The networking idea became politicized during the 1992 Clinton–Gore election campaign, where the rhetoric of the information highway captured the public imagination. On taking office in 1993, the new administration set in place a range of government initiatives for a National Information Infrastructure aimed at ensuring that all American citizens ultimately gain access to the new networks.[20]

From wiki - the internet has been around for awhile. The public Internet has not.

1

nicholasruunu t1_iu4246u wrote

Had both external modem and ethernet card for the Toshiba slot!

8

SgtRamonRuiz t1_iu42qsw wrote

I wonder where you’d find anything to connect to. Earliest I remember a friend’s dad connecting to the internet tied up the phone line for hours and he basically just said hi to a friend. There was nothing online for the average person to do.

1

nicholasruunu t1_iu432cx wrote

The internet basically consisted of BBS, bulletin boards hosted by Universities and such. It was before my time though.

11

Available-Fly-8268 t1_iu5l48k wrote

Some nerds/geeks had multiple phone lines with modems attached where folks could dial in and post messages similar to today's Craigslist or Kijiji. The first few years of the internet was pretty much about porn and Internet Relay Chat. Users who bought those Toshibas were I-T types and business people who wanted to do more work away from the office. I was in Field Service in that era, myself and many others were very impressed with that product. Networking at the office was only just beginning in that tyme as well. The floppy drive enabled users to copy or save a file to the disk, take the disk to another machine which had a printer attached and print the file. We called it sneaker net. The best part about being an I-T Guy in that era was the chicks.

3

mechanab t1_iu4j1xb wrote

There was lots to connect to. CompuServe was already pretty big by this time. Lots of BBSs and universities. Listserv was just getting started I think.

I got my first modem around 1982. It was 300 baud and my mom was always pissed because I would be using the phone line for hours.

3

SgtRamonRuiz t1_iu4jr0h wrote

Lots of money for a listserv. I just can’t imagine being mobile and wanting/needing/being able to connect.

1

mechanab t1_iu4lor6 wrote

The mobility was for business. My older sister needed to travel for work and had one of those suitcase Compaq luggables. She would need to dial in as well. This was around 1986 I think.

3

Masters_1989 t1_iu7ir2d wrote

That's incredible. I never knew things started so early.

2

GoodOmens t1_iu4fp6f wrote

Trade Wars 2002!!!!

2

aricknight t1_iu5aoo3 wrote

I was more of a lord guy myself but for mentioning any BBS door you get an upvote.

2

kabekew t1_iu6ipl6 wrote

Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy were pretty popular back then, with online games, chat, message boards and downloadable software. For business there was Dow Jones where you could get stock quotes and financial news.

1

shambahlah t1_iu4rk6g wrote

No Internet but modems were a thing. You just had to be in the know, who to connect to.

2