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What Is the Internet?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Deeper_Background, Jan 30, 2011.

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  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I actually did. Thanks to my computer science friends when I was an undergrad. My first Internet account was 1987. The Internet was by no means new. Students didn't get them automatically. In fact, few had an account. You had to use your PC as a dummy terminal, fire up your 14.4K modem and dial up to a VAX machine and know a few Unix commands. It was all text (ASCII) based, and basically there were two worthwhile apps. One was e-mail. I used PINE, a Unix program that would crack up people who use things like Outlook. The second was Usenet, which gave you access to newsgroups dedicated to specific topics.

    I remember thinking it was the coolest thing when I posted a question to a sports-related Usenet Group and got a couple of personal e-mails from random people in Europe, Canada, etc. I guess it was my first inkling that the thing would be powerful.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 31, 2011
    #13
  2. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    .
    I wouldn't go tat far. Hell, I was 10 years old in 1994 and had been using Gopher for about year by that point.

    By 1994 Mosaic was already in use for http. FTP had been in use for years.

    I wouldn't expect Bryant Gumbel to know HOW to access the internet in 1994...but I would expect him, as a member of the mass media, to know WHAT it was in 1994.
     
    Brian, Jan 31, 2011
    #14
  3. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    We used a Gopher mail system at school. I remember being able to get AP copy on this crappy yellow and black screen and being absolutely stunned. We were so excited about email that we sent what are equivalent to text messages back and forth just to say that we had stuff in our inbox.
     
    Brian, Jan 31, 2011
    #15
  4. Pringle

    Pringle Active Member

    I think maybe people confused their terms back then. Gumbel probably knew what "AOL" or "Prodigy" was, but didn't understand the concept of an "Internet" or "World Wide Web" that existed across ISP's. I know I didn't at that time.
     
    Pringle, Jan 31, 2011
    #16
  5. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Hell, I was all over the internet in 1994. I was Anon 3:24.
     
    Ace, Jan 31, 2011
    #17
  6. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    The World Wide Web opened up the internet to the masses. It was pretty much in its infancy in' 94.
     
    JR, Jan 31, 2011
    #18
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Wikipedia says that MSN debuted on August 24th, 1995.

    I know that I first got online with MSN using Netscape, so it must have been after that.

    I know AOL was around before that, but, I don't think it's as crazy as it looks for them to be unable to give a good definition of the internet in 1994.

    I thought the @nbc.ge email address was interesting too.
     
    YankeeFan, Jan 31, 2011
    #19
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    AOL was NOT the Internet. It had a lot of subscribers, but it was a closed service that limited you to their content and closed off the actual internet from their software.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 31, 2011
    #20
  9. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    Not out of touch because before the internet the word didn't spread quickly. I was online in '95 or '96 and I don't think anyone else I knew was on yet. My dad heard about the internet having some encyclopedias on there or something so he got AOL. Then my mom got addicted to chat rooms and the thing stuck.
     
    mustangj17, Jan 31, 2011
    #21
  10. RedCanuck

    RedCanuck Active Member

    I knew about bulletin board services and the like probably in 1994, but it took a year or two to realize the scope of something like the world wide web and to start hitting web pages that weren't really local in nature.
     
    RedCanuck, Jan 31, 2011
    #22
  11. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    They also used candles and lanterns to see at night, so what does that tell you? Too dumb to just flick a fucking light switch.
     
    Double J, Jan 31, 2011
    #23
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I get that. Sorry if I made it seem like I didn't.

    I just meant that people were using their computers to access information by using things like AOL. Just as a frame of reference, I was trying to say that the growth of the World Wide Web wasn't too far off.

    That's why I'm defending them for not being able to clearly define the internet or pronounce "@".
     
    YankeeFan, Jan 31, 2011
    #24
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