Birth of the internet
09-13-2010, 08:28 AM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Maryville, TN
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2000 Accent
Birth of the internet
I was reading a little history on how the internet came to be
http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/...ts/arpanet.html
and was wondering what were some of your thoughts when you first started to use the net? I first started using it back when AOL was the big thing. My first computer was a Gateway that came with a 14" CRT monitor, and loaded up with AOL. It only had a 40 gig hard drive and 256mb of ram.
I think the first search engine and email system I used was Excite. laugh.gif And I remember surfing for porn and going into chat rooms like it was the coolest thing ever. The day I got a cable modem was the best day of my life because I never had to hear the dial up modem making those horrific noises again. banana.gif
http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/...ts/arpanet.html
and was wondering what were some of your thoughts when you first started to use the net? I first started using it back when AOL was the big thing. My first computer was a Gateway that came with a 14" CRT monitor, and loaded up with AOL. It only had a 40 gig hard drive and 256mb of ram.
I think the first search engine and email system I used was Excite. laugh.gif And I remember surfing for porn and going into chat rooms like it was the coolest thing ever. The day I got a cable modem was the best day of my life because I never had to hear the dial up modem making those horrific noises again. banana.gif
09-13-2010, 10:25 AM
#2
Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: ɯooɹpǝq ɹnoʎ
Posts: 13,943
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: ǝdnoɔ sısǝuǝƃ
I built my first computer in... 1996 I think. I vaguely remember RAM being priced at $1 per MB. I built an AMD Athlon 700Mhz machine and overclocked it to 933 I believe. The computer I used before that was a Compaq, ran Doom II and I was on AOL all the time. Altavista was my search engine of choice.
"Only a 40Gig Hard drive" ?? I think we had to buy external zip drives to backup 256MB, and computer programs were still sold on 3.5" floppy drives.
I learned how to type and play Oregon Trail on an Apple with a 5.25" floppy for each game back in 1992/1993.
I can say I used Windows 3.1, and messed around in DOS all the time, but that's as old as I go. I also remember having to make sure I bought "IBM Compatible" programs.
"Only a 40Gig Hard drive" ?? I think we had to buy external zip drives to backup 256MB, and computer programs were still sold on 3.5" floppy drives.
I learned how to type and play Oregon Trail on an Apple with a 5.25" floppy for each game back in 1992/1993.
I can say I used Windows 3.1, and messed around in DOS all the time, but that's as old as I go. I also remember having to make sure I bought "IBM Compatible" programs.
09-13-2010, 11:28 AM
#3
Administrator
We had Apple IIe's in our school computer room, and a couple of original Mac's. In 12th grade (1995), the school sprang for a few dial up modems and get connected to the net that way. After graduation and into college is when I bought my first Compaq desktop for my dorm and holy sh*t did it suck ass! laugh.gif My roommate would be up all night doing sh*t and all I would hear while either studying or trying to sleep was that damn modem noise because he would get disconnected and have to log back on. So many times I wanted to throw something at him.
Excite and Yahoo were my engines of choice at the time.
I feel so old right now. disappointed.gif
Excite and Yahoo were my engines of choice at the time.
I feel so old right now. disappointed.gif
09-13-2010, 12:58 PM
#4
Moderator
My friends and I ran a BBS where people could call in and download/play games or chat. It was called "Bad Luck BBS- Where everything goes wrong" Early in the morning, it would disconnect whoever was online and connect to another BBS in town and email would be transfered across. Then it would sit idle until the next person came online. It was pretty cool for back in the day. That was a 75mhz computer with 2 megs of ram.
My first computer was built by my uncle. it was a 80386sx chip with 640k of memory. It ran all kinds of software. I remember at one point my dad made me promise that 1 meg of memory was all we'd *ever* need before he bought the upgrade.
My first modem was a 2400bps modem. That's about 1/23 the speed of a 56Kbps modem. I used it to connect to a BBS with about 5 phone lines which people could chat back and forth or play online games.
When I say online games, I mean, text based ANSI games like Food Fight (my personal favorite). It says You throw the food for 10 points, what would you like to do? 1. run 2. fight....... And when I say download games, I mean, these games were 1/10th the size of your average MP3 song. My Hard disk was about twice the size of a CD-ROM drive and could store 10 megs. And when we wanted software we walked to the computer store, uphill both ways in the snow.
My first computer was built by my uncle. it was a 80386sx chip with 640k of memory. It ran all kinds of software. I remember at one point my dad made me promise that 1 meg of memory was all we'd *ever* need before he bought the upgrade.
My first modem was a 2400bps modem. That's about 1/23 the speed of a 56Kbps modem. I used it to connect to a BBS with about 5 phone lines which people could chat back and forth or play online games.
When I say online games, I mean, text based ANSI games like Food Fight (my personal favorite). It says You throw the food for 10 points, what would you like to do? 1. run 2. fight....... And when I say download games, I mean, these games were 1/10th the size of your average MP3 song. My Hard disk was about twice the size of a CD-ROM drive and could store 10 megs. And when we wanted software we walked to the computer store, uphill both ways in the snow.
09-13-2010, 01:03 PM
#5
Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: ɯooɹpǝq ɹnoʎ
Posts: 13,943
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: ǝdnoɔ sısǝuǝƃ
lol... 386, sx, dx, some kiddies here have no idea with what you refer to.
2400, lol.. my first modem that I can remember was 28.8, and I think it was "the shiz" at the time. 56k was around but too expensive.
haha... I remember messing with the modem string to turn off the speaker so my dad wouldn't hear me connecting to AOL in the middle of the night. Oh man... the things I did on AOL.... I remember when AOL 3.0 came out and messed up all my proggies.
2400, lol.. my first modem that I can remember was 28.8, and I think it was "the shiz" at the time. 56k was around but too expensive.
haha... I remember messing with the modem string to turn off the speaker so my dad wouldn't hear me connecting to AOL in the middle of the night. Oh man... the things I did on AOL.... I remember when AOL 3.0 came out and messed up all my proggies.
09-13-2010, 01:31 PM
#6
Moderator
^^ That command would be ATDTM0L0
(broken down= Attention, wait for dial tone, Speaker off, Loudness 0)
I use similar protocols in communicating with the OBD port in my program. ATZ= Attention, Z out(reset), ATD = Attention, Set defaults. ATH1 = Attention, Headers on.
(broken down= Attention, wait for dial tone, Speaker off, Loudness 0)
I use similar protocols in communicating with the OBD port in my program. ATZ= Attention, Z out(reset), ATD = Attention, Set defaults. ATH1 = Attention, Headers on.
09-13-2010, 01:33 PM
#7
Administrator
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pP6iTjhlOvs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pP6iTjhlOvs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
09-13-2010, 02:40 PM
#8
Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: ɯooɹpǝq ɹnoʎ
Posts: 13,943
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: ǝdnoɔ sısǝuǝƃ
while we're on the topic of 2400bps, 28.8, and 56k, I came across this article:
Chattanooga, TN claims fastest internet in the U.S.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/09...band/index.html
The unlikely city of Chattanooga says it began offering one-gigabit-per-second internet upload and download speeds Monday, a rate it says is the fastest in the United States -- and 250 times the average internet speed in the nation.
One gigabit per second for $350/mo.
Chattanooga, TN claims fastest internet in the U.S.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/09...band/index.html
The unlikely city of Chattanooga says it began offering one-gigabit-per-second internet upload and download speeds Monday, a rate it says is the fastest in the United States -- and 250 times the average internet speed in the nation.
One gigabit per second for $350/mo.
09-13-2010, 03:46 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Ashland, KY
Posts: 4,244
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
man I'm only 26 and I'm surprised I predate everyone!
It was 1992 and our first pc was a 486 25mhz pionex windows 3.1 with a 800 mb hdd and 4 mb of memory (4 individual simms). We later upgraded it to 8 mb. I remember that costed over $100 so they must have been at least $25/mb. We had aol but the main thing I used it for was playing games. I played a lot of warcraft 2 with my friend, he would host and I would dial into his machine. We had that till about 97 when we upgraded to a p1 133mhz. Then it gets blurry cause I've had like 100 pc's since then.
It was 1992 and our first pc was a 486 25mhz pionex windows 3.1 with a 800 mb hdd and 4 mb of memory (4 individual simms). We later upgraded it to 8 mb. I remember that costed over $100 so they must have been at least $25/mb. We had aol but the main thing I used it for was playing games. I played a lot of warcraft 2 with my friend, he would host and I would dial into his machine. We had that till about 97 when we upgraded to a p1 133mhz. Then it gets blurry cause I've had like 100 pc's since then.
09-13-2010, 04:32 PM
#10
Moderator
^^ Reread my post. My first computer was a 386SX/25mhz with 640kB ram. I was programming on it in BASIC and Batch when I was 8. That would have been around '86.
I believe that would translate to "I was programming when you were in diapers."
We would also do the same thing with Sierra's "Stellar 7" game. Dial in and destroy each other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_7
When AOL came around, my brother and I got those free disks sent to us. You could order up to 10 at a time. Then when you sign up, you put in a algorithm generated card number. Back then AOL charged by the minute. They would not check the card number until the end of the month. My brother and I created a program called AOLame which allowed for hostile chatroom takeovers, scrolling, algorithm generators, and best of all, spoofing/ghosting. Those were the good days... Now everything is too locked down.
I believe that would translate to "I was programming when you were in diapers."
We would also do the same thing with Sierra's "Stellar 7" game. Dial in and destroy each other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_7
When AOL came around, my brother and I got those free disks sent to us. You could order up to 10 at a time. Then when you sign up, you put in a algorithm generated card number. Back then AOL charged by the minute. They would not check the card number until the end of the month. My brother and I created a program called AOLame which allowed for hostile chatroom takeovers, scrolling, algorithm generators, and best of all, spoofing/ghosting. Those were the good days... Now everything is too locked down.