It may sound weird, but there was a period when computers were not the central part of our lives. This period is not very long, but people who have not experienced it surely consider it a completely different world. The dial-up connection made the connection to the Internet really slow, and the rarity of computers made really exciting toys. What we now see as outdated technology was once considered to be the greatest achievement. If you then told someone that he would hold a small computer with permanent Internet access in a few years, I would certainly say that it is only science fiction. So let's remember what the Internet actually was and what people did at that time.
- Watch the series on TV ... one episode per week!
Thanks to the Internet we forget that the episodes of all the series went out once a week. In addition, people did not have the luxury to look the episode when they wanted, but eagerly waited in front of the TV to start. However, there may be something nice about having a week to think about the episode before looking at the next one.
- They waited to open the images
The slow Internet speed came with the slow opening of the websites. Before the wireless signal occurs, this wait is something that you must accept if you want to see what's happening on the Internet.
- Awaiting connection to the Internet
Before the advent of the wireless Internet, the connection was much slower. In most homes it was necessary to connect the phone to the computer and then wait for the connection to be made.
- They turned off the phone to stay connected on the Internet
People depended on their dial-up modems that were connected to the world of the Internet. Once you connect to the Internet, you certainly want to stay connected. But if someone uses the phone while you are connected, you lose the connection. To avoid this, many people switched off their phones while on the Internet.
- Data was stored on diskettes
Those who lived in the floppy era certainly know the process of storing data on them. But the problem was that these floppy disks were very easily destructive, so it was a real challenge to transfer data from one location to another without damaging them
- Talks started with "ASL"
If you are from the older generation, you certainly remember the famous "ASL". This is a shortcut from English words Age / Sex / Location (age / sex / location). This shortcut was used as "healthy" and it's supposedly its purpose is to see if the person you are writing is "good enough" for your attention.
- Hours spent in online chat rooms
There was no better way to spend your free time than chatting with absolute strangers in the online room. Often these chat rooms were divided into categories (books, movies, music) so it was easy to find people with similar interests. These chat rooms exist today, but they are mostly used by older people and those who want to joke.
- They trusted on all websites
Websites in the past looked really strange, but users did not care. No matter what the site is, they believed in everything they read on it. They probably thought that as soon as something happened on the Internet, then it should be trusted. Google was not nearly as good a search engine as it was today, so people did not have the ability to check the authenticity of the websites they visited.
- "Netscape Navigator" was the most popular Internet browser
If you used the Internet before the era of wireless connectivity, you are likely to have used this browser as well. When it appeared on the market, it was the only product that offered easy Internet "surfing." So over time, he became a part of the life of every Internet user. Of course, at that time, Microsoft gained its popularity and made huge changes.
- Before Wikipedia and Facebook, there were "GeoCities"
Before Wikipedia became the source of all information, there was a website called "GeoCities". He was much more than an information warehouse. In a way, this site was a social network, an "organization" of users with the same posts who created sites on various topics. It was a way to connect, but also to share your knowledge. Over time, he was bought from Yahoo and about 10 years later, in 2009, at least 38 million websites were included in this platform.
- They believed in the problem in 2000
Long time timestamps on computers have been coded with 2 digits instead of 4. This has caused much concern about what would happen to computers when it came in 2000. In that year, the time mark on the computer would recognize 2000 as 1900 and would allegedly cause chaos to the computers. This problem is known as the "Problem with the Year 2000" or "Y2K". There were all theories and horror stories with the approach of the new millennium. Would nuclear bombs themselves be launched? Would the banking system fail? Will all forms of mass communication stop working? These are just some of the terrible scenarios for the "end of the world". The fear was so great that the problem appeared on the cover of the magazines, entitled "The End of the World!"!