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How do you guys remember the early days of the internet? What do you miss about it? (tim.kicker.dev)

submitted 2 years ago by Provider@feddit.de to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Wanted to ask you about this article, how do you remember the early days of the internet (I was sadly too young at that time). Do you wish it back? And do you think it can ever be like that again? I would be very interested

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[–] Frances_Larina@sfba.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

@Provider

USENET

Specifically, alt.hacks, which concerned ways to simplify computing (as it was called) tasks - or everyday life tasks, too.

Especially the ob-hack.

There was a rule that to stay on topic, every post had to have a hack of some sort. An obligatory hack, or "ob-hack". So a fun sort of footnote to postings quickly evolved, as follows:

"...and that's how a bill becomes a law, and why so much of the Internet has already been privatized.

ob-hack: connect the turbo case button to the enable/disable pins on an option card to reclaim the IRQ or interrupt."

[–] Kissaki@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't miss anything about it. And certainly not the modem dial sounds I knew from memory/intuitively.

Imagine having to dial into the internet and having to wait 30s with beeping and whooshing sounds.

/e: It seems OP question was stated more broadly than the linked article addresses and people seem to reply to.

[–] AnonTwo@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I miss the dial-up sound. I can't really put into words why. It was like looking at a progress bar I guess.

I also miss hosting, just because it was the few things I could organize without having to like...organize I guess. Like the group just needed someone who could figure out how to get it to work.

Like the other guy said, written FAQs. Used to go onto gameFAQs all the time. I still go there sometimes, though it's only really useful for old games now.

I dunno where everyone is getting all this ad-less crap from. This was before adblock and even before a lot of spyware/malware protection was implemented. Modern ads still aren't as aggravating as getting Windows System Alert ads. And that stuff could be put onto your PC so easily....

[–] Nepenthe@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

I always liked the dial-up sound. I don't know why it's so often reviled. Yes, it sounds like multiple minutes of demonic screeching being played backwards, but it was my demonic screeching. It was the sound that meant you were about to have fun.

[–] Ransom@lemmy.one 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

IRC and playing Warcraft “online” by dialing my friend’s house. One time we messed with a telnet client. That was neat.

You guys remember pMachine (evolved into ExpressionEngine)? That shit blew my mind when I got it installed. No more Adobe Pagemaker.

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[–] xkforce@lemmy.world -1 points 2 years ago

Imagine a bookworm that suddenly has access to an effectively infinite library that they can access almost any time that they want. And it felt like there was a lot to explore and didnt feel as centralized. I.e today it feels like youve got 5 maybe 6 really big sites rather than hundreds, thousands, millions of distinct and potentially interesting places to explore.

Do I want that back? Yes and no. I miss the feeling of wonder and of exploring the unknown but I do not miss dial up. If your internet connection were 100x that today youd think something was wrong with the connection. i.e horribly slow. Images would take minutes to load, songs hours, video was unthinkable.

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