#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:
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:
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:
And THIS is a printer:
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:
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:
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.
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!