The old internet

Atlantic Dawn · 07-04-2019 1:36pm

The old internet, when men were men and 'women' were usually men, lol.

fred funk }{ · 07-04-2019 1:37pm

I remember when the internet wasn't long out. We had a book with about 100 different available websites that you could type in the address and browse through them. Very exciting times and I don't think there was any search engines back then, maybe I'm wrong.

Jimbob1977 · 07-04-2019 1:42pm

Lycos, Alta Vista and Ask Jeeves

Slower speeds after 1pm because the United States were coming online.

Pop Mail. UCD used it.

Dial-up modem with the high pierced shrill.

Pages turning slowly.

byte · 07-04-2019 1:59pm

EsatClear Surf No Limits.

And maybe just me, but I had gathered an abundance of CD coasters from ISP's.

McDermotX · 07-04-2019 2:35pm

branie2 · 07-04-2019 2:36pm

Some websites took a long time to load

Pinch Flat · 07-04-2019 2:44pm

Hey, I need to use the phone, get off the internet

branie2 · 07-04-2019 2:55pm

Remember logging for an hour after 6, and once a day at weekends, when those times were cheaper?

Mrs OBumble · 07-04-2019 3:02pm

Use net.

2400 baud.

branie2 · 07-04-2019 3:36pm

No Wikipedia or Facebook

Irish Guitarist · 07-04-2019 3:46pm

E mac · 07-04-2019 3:58pm

Yahoo chat.
'Doras' irelands answer to yahoo.
Eircom advertising internet on the internet.
Geocities
Using Napster for the first time (Ms Jackson -Outkast) its mine now Forever!

07-04-2019 4:00pm

The old internet:

Wanna put up a website but don't want to pay any money? : Use GeoCities. (boardsies under 30 won't have a clue what I'm talking about but google it)

Email: No gmail. Use hotmail - still a respectable independant (of microsoft who took it over) entity.

Want an email program on your computer: Use pegasus. Free and quite respectable, yes really. If you have Microsoft Office, ofcourse you can configure Microsoft Outlook. This could be wired up with an eir or tinet account as it was then known.

Netscape is the browser that ALL RESPECTABLE wierdos / geeks / space cadets use btw.

ceadaoin. · 07-04-2019 4:05pm

angelfire. Those sites usually consisted of a coloured background and text in a clashing colour that were really hard to read and made your eyes go funny.

Ger Roe · 07-04-2019 4:10pm

The Old Internet :

Back in the 90's I was involved with a pirate radio station in Dublin that was one of the first online broadcasters. We only had one phone line into the 'studio' (garden shed) and we had to announce that no requests were to be phoned in while we attempted to connect to the internet. It was a dial up connection and we only operated on the web at specific times as we could not afford the cost of having a full time web connection. It was fun to go on line and wait to see if any emails came in from far flung parts.

I was amazed to find out that the sellotape and string system we used actually worked when I went on holidays to Canada and could listen in to our garden shed station.

Simple and fun times.

Pinch Flat · 07-04-2019 4:35pm

I remember listening to 2fm back in the late 90s. The DJ would put out a shout to someone like joe listening to us on the internet. I thought listening to radio and music over the internet would never take off. So here I am, Spotify plugged into my hifi with instant access to a vast library of recorded music..

Badly Drunk Boy · 07-04-2019 5:16pm

Here's a clip of Pete Tong on the radio in 1995, giving the internet address of the show on the BBC website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGwxdUsrhhY

http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/p/tong/index.html or maybe http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/p-tong/index.html (He didn't say 'forward slash' for one of the slashes.)

07-04-2019 5:20pm

Zombocom

Mint Sauce · 07-04-2019 5:21pm

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Was there a thing on your phone called WAP, or am I dreaming? Think it was a very low level internet connection which showed Lotto and Horoscopes but took ages to load and used a lot of credit!

Don't forget the pixilated pictures and short stories on phone erotica. Or so I was told.

Mister Vain · 07-04-2019 5:25pm

It took about 2 hours to finish a **** because of the length of time it took for a pornographic image to load.

07-04-2019 5:30pm

Preplanned **** so you could download whatever you were into.

It really was just so different back then. The entire thing was a jungle, and I'm glad I was part of it.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-04-2019 6:26pm

branie2 wrote: »

Some websites took a long time to load

Oh the joy when a site used Interlaced gifs.

Pinch Flat · 07-04-2019 6:53pm

Mister Vain wrote: »

It took about 2 hours to finish a **** because of the length of time it took for a pornographic image to load.

You can finish in a few seconds now. Ah technology. :pac:

Cushtie · 07-04-2019 6:57pm

Paddynet. first introduction to Chat rooms. Think it was sometime back around 98. On a netscape navigator browser. It was on a work PC and all. Before content filtering came in of course.

07-04-2019 7:03pm

"... all lowercase letters"

supersaint3 · 07-04-2019 7:14pm

ICQ anyone??!

Wanderer2010 · 07-04-2019 7:22pm

James Date? If im not wrong, some early version of internet dating...haven't a clue how it worked again but the name sticks out. I think about 2001 or so.

Ger Roe · 07-04-2019 7:27pm

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Here's a clip of Pete Tong on the radio in 1995, giving the internet address of the show on the BBC website.

http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/p/tong/index.html or maybe http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/p-tong/index.html (He didn't say 'forward slash' for one of the slashes.)

Yep, I remember reading out our web address like that. It was just for the few at the time who knew how to use it, and here in Ireland, for the very few that had the connection ability. It actually reminded me of operating on short wave, sending the signal out and hoping that someone was on the receiving end, somewhere in the world.

It's a far cry from today's app availability where everything is already done for you and instant networking is guaranteed.

normanoffside · 07-04-2019 7:33pm

http://www.mulletsgalore.com/

JohnnyFlash · 07-04-2019 8:02pm

Somethingawful was good fun.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-04-2019 8:44pm

sligozone :eek:

branie2 · 07-04-2019 8:46pm

Were there virus threats back then?

07-04-2019 9:19pm

branie2 wrote: »

Were there virus threats back then?

Yeah, and they were brutal in that they were designed solely for damage, not money.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILOVEYOU

The outbreak was later estimated to have caused US$5.5–8.7 billion in damages worldwide,[6][7] and estimated to cost US$15 billion to remove the worm.[8]

E mac · 07-04-2019 9:21pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

sligozone :eek:

Had completely forgotten about that....what was she ? A parody?

E mac · 07-04-2019 9:22pm

Websites that had guestbooks.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b · 07-04-2019 9:28pm

Jennicam.

bonzodog2 · 07-04-2019 9:36pm

hit counters on a page

igCorcaigh · 07-04-2019 9:39pm

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

Obtain nudey pics.

alt.binaries anyone?

Seriously though, I miss usenet.
Boards.ie would be all the better for it.

igCorcaigh · 07-04-2019 9:41pm

When sky news broadcast their Web address.

Haitch tee tee pee...

Grandeeod · 07-04-2019 9:46pm

Alta Vista introduced you to all the internet had to offer.

Online since 1999. Social media and smart phones made it less tolerable, but it had to happen, I suppose. The days when you had to be computer literate to access the internet, were great days indeed.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-04-2019 9:49pm

branie2 wrote: »

Were there virus threats back then?

Bulgarian viruses.

Nasty ones.

Back in the days before multisynch monitors they could over drive your monitor. POP ! :eek:

Or tell the stepper motor that moves the head to keep stepping, right off the edge of the drive :eek:

Well that's what the story was. Viruses that killed hardware.

And hardware wasn't cheap back then.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-04-2019 9:53pm

Grandeeod wrote: »

The days when you had to be computer literate to access the internet, were great days indeed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

Usenet was largely restricted to colleges, universities, and other research institutions. Every September, a large number of incoming freshmen would acquire access to Usenet for the first time, taking time to become accustomed to Usenet's standards of conduct and "netiquette". After a month or so, these new users would either learn to comply with the networks' social norms or tire of using the service

And then in 1993 AOL let just anyone on Usenet.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 07-04-2019 10:21pm

Infini wrote: »

Internet was fine, great craic and all..... then cancer media came along and turned a ton of people into idiots and braindead fools!

Thanks Facebook and Twitter you failed us yet again!

To be fair, it's much more the fact idiots and brain dead fools were given easy access to the internet. It was fine when there was a barrier to entry, it filtered out a lot of sh1te. Facebook and Twitter has allowed anyone to easily talk nonsense, when really the internet should be about learning and understanding.

the_syco · 07-04-2019 10:50pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvr9AMWEU-c

fatknacker · 07-04-2019 11:24pm

Smartphones have now given us access to the insufferable opinions of the entire planet's great unwashed.

It was easier up to 10 years ago when you just had boards.ie for that.

the_syco · 07-04-2019 11:36pm

fatknacker wrote: »

Smartphones have now given us access to the insufferable opinions of the entire planet's great unwashed.

Remember trying to browse the clusterfcuk that was WAP?

sligojoek · 08-04-2019 12:40am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

sligozone :eek:

E mac wrote: »

Had completely forgotten about that....what was she ? A parody?

She was something else. I think Podge and Rodge had her on the show once.

Edit: She's still there.

Not really suitable for work

jimbobaloobob · 08-04-2019 12:47am

Was she known as an influencer?:D

refusetolose · 08-04-2019 1:39am

supersaint3 wrote: »

ICQ anyone??!

twas years before i realised it was "I seek you"

08-04-2019 4:51am

Remember Computer Science diploma year students in 1996 waiting 15 minutes uploading to see a few seconds worth of professional US basketball using Flash browser plugin in Netscape Navigator only.

The old internet

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