I is for Internet!

#ATOZChallenge @tkrimms

Before Al Gore invented the Internet (*read the truth here), the Internet existed as I knew it. The furthest back I recall the Interwebs is 1993.

In the Spring of 1993, I was in eighth grade, ready to move onto high school. I was anxious, scared (okay, petrified) and not sure what to expect. My first day of high school that fall, I freaked out as the bus driver missed my best friend’s stop and I entered the huge building ALL BY MYSELF. I managed. The day was awkward, at best. We toured the school, and then we went to the library.

The librarian explained, standing next to a circle of computers, we could find locations of books using the card catalog. I glanced around the room. Where was the card catalog? She explained we can find the catalog on the computer. This is how I imagine I looked:

If you say so .....

I mean, really? The computer listed all the books the library contained. No way. How is that even possible? THIS is how you find books:

2014-02-04_10.27.31

You search through the index cards, write down the locations on a scrap paper, and shove your pencil between the pages to keep your place. This library was one thing – crazy. I mean, the computers even looked different. WAAAAAAY different! The printers were unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

THIS is a computer:

snap20

And THIS is a printer:

dot-matrix_printer_Epson_MX-80

 

 

 

 

 

But, if she said so.

Eventually, I caught onto the computers, and the internet. Email was through something called Hotmail. We could research things using the computers. In grade school, I only played The Oregon Trail. And not the one the kids play today. Not even close. This one:

oregon_trail_screenshot3

Through the years, the Internet improved, and computers. There are some awesome things I remember about the Internet back in the day. Here are a few:

ICQ

ICQ Chat. The first chat I remember using.

 

L'hotel Chat. The first chat rooms I remember.

L’hotel Chat. The first chat rooms I remember.

The first web hosting I had.

The first web hosting I had.

If I wanted to listen to music, I went to the store and bought the cassette or CD. (Youngins, click here to learn about cassette tapes). People then discovered Napster.

When I first heard of an Mp3

When I first heard of an Mp3

There are so many things the Internet has now, and things you can do now, that in 1993, 1997, and even 2005 were unthinkable. I can watch entire TV shows online now! My groceries can be delivered to me via an online order! And instead of a webcam over a crappy connection, I can Face Time. Hell – I can use the Internet ON MY PHONE.

Tell me, what things to you remember in the 90s about the Internet? Tell me in the comments!