'Net me blow your mind

This is my 25th year in Liverpool, which means it has been a quarter of century since I discovered that a thing called the Internet existed. The Open Day at John Moores included a demo of this thing called Mosaic, on something they called the world wide web.

I wanted to go to Uni in Liverpool regardless, that little demo and the size of the labs had me signed up. About six months later, I sent my first email internationally (not that crossing boundaries is something technically requiring any different).

We take it all for granted now, and we’re going to see a lot more change in our lifetimes.

When did you first discover the 'net, Sotonians?

And what blew your mind when you first saw it?

I was 8, playing for Mansbridge in the U11’s and I scored at Monks Brook.

First time I found the net.

That’s not what Pap meant! Ooops. Sorry!

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Quiet, or I’ll have the rough lads transfer you to VHS.

Still remember Betamax with affection.

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I used email in 1987. Was not called email, but thats what it was for sure.

Think I found the net around ten years after that. Being able to find out stuff / info / gossip about footy, immediately, was pretty amazing, I thought :smile:

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That’s why you’re going to VHS.

We’d be able to record more though, especially on a long play system.

Would be 1994 when I went to uni. We were encouraged to chat on line to other pepple at unis abroad. I remember being given an email address and there were lots of new computer rooms. There was some internal messaging system. I found an old print off of one of my friend’s responses a while ago. It was probably in 1997 that I encourage my parents to get the internet at home so I could do my dissertation. Ah that dial up sound eh?

I cannot remember that far back but I first purchased an Olivetti PC in the early 90’s with a dial up connection which was extremely painful to use.

January 1972. Working on a Digitising Table that had a Ferranti Freescan processor and half inch tape deck to record the capture data. I’m pleased to say the equipment still exists…it’s in The Science Museum in London.

OK I know it wasn’t the Internet…internal emails around 1993.

It wont catch on. I prefer Telex to email anyway

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I could read a Westrex punch tape…slowly.

I can remember coming across Google for the first time - that was the end of Jeeves

Guess what people asked Jeeves the most?

How do you get on Google ?

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Lotus Notes & a Dial-Up Modem on a Compaq 386SX Laptop.
Oh how we were trend setting…

Nope. It was:-

“Are you gay?”

Such is the danger of personifying your search service.

Started using email when I went to Uni in 1987, over the joint academic network, or janet.

Didn’t use t’internet until me pa got a 386 in 1994 and we installed Compuserve. The first thing that impressed me were the real time weather maps, although the refresh rate over dial-up was a bit slow.

I am surprised no-one has mentioned horse porn yet.

One can only assume that you all had huge deposits in your reverse equestrian wankbanks in print form.

Well I could tell you the story of our house getting internet back in 1997. My dad was trying out some search engine and decided to search for something that was in the media a lot at the time… The Spice Girls.

Well that’s his story.

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Probably '92/'93.

Joined a programming community and it was really active on Majordomo email lists so had to get online with Demon Internet.

Like @pap I also used Mosaic and then a whole bunch of other community tools - like Usenet (NNTP).

Really exciting times at 300-9600bps.

A few years later I had to demonstrate the Internet to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in his private quarters at Windsor Castle.

Imagine making small talk with a self-entitled racist as I try to load the WWF (Wildlife, not Wrestling) home page at 9600 baud.

Buy me a beer and I’ll tell the story of the Prince and the Caterpillar.

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