The InterNet -- Your First Exposure

[Vic Tory]

I'll start.

1980: Not really the InterNet, but a taste of what was to come....

Control Data Corporation hired me as a salesman. The Cyber 205 was their newest computer and it was a BEAST. It was (at that time) the most powerful computer in the world. I was ASTOUNDED at how quickly a solid model of a locomotive engine could be *built* on the monitor. CDC's previous top-of-the-line super computer, the 176 would slowly "paint" the engine's components onto the screen -- taking about 20 minutes to complete the solid model. The same image would *FLASH* on the screen when the 205 was driving it.

CDC figured a way to network their super computers -- all over the world -- to talk with each other. This was cutting edge stuff!

Being an early riser, I was usually one of the first one or two people in the office. The top engineer was the other person who would also get to the office early.

So what did he, and all the other highly paid computer engineers, do with the network of super computers? They played a Star Trek game they'd created(!).

I'd walk back to Engineering to find him POUNDING coordinates into the keyboard to *jump* his ship from one sector of space to another and attack the Romulans or Klingons. These guys would trash talk each other using the Chat feature they'd incorporated into the program. My friend, Richard the Engineer, would be EXHAUSTED by the time work was supposed to start. Somehow he found a way to slog through his day.

Over ten years later I had MY first experience with the (infant) World Wide Web. I joined a Bulletin Board...

I've gotta go get some work done. More later.

What was it like when you first found this bizarre ... World Wide Web?

[Little Dutch]

I think it was high school in the 90's when they showed us how to research online and properly cite internet addresses as sources. We were warned that whitehouse.com was not a government site and to not go there.

I had little interest in the www outside of email. I didn't do much with it until I started a few online games.

[Bailey Guns]

In the Air Force stationed at Offutt AFB working at Global Weather Central. When I ETS'd in 1989 a new system, the Satellite Data Handling System, was just coming online. we'd been working on it for several years. Pretty cutting edge stuff and there were a lot of messages sent electronically on that system to other locations. I think that was my first exposure to it.

I think my first home computer was a Packard Bell in around 94. Got hooked on playing US Navy Fighters on it. I loved that game. I started shopping online and doing a lot of other online stuff shortly after getting that computer. I think I started ordering from Amazon when they were only selling books in 95. I remember when I could finally get a 56kbps(?) connection on my dial up modem...EXCITING! And super fast!

[eddiememphis]

Around 1984 or so. Commodore 64 and a Volksmodem, talking to a college kid on a BBS up at CSU. He seemed impressed a high school kid could figure out how to get in and chat.

[KevDen2005]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46qKHq7REI4

[FoxtArt]

Not sure that I remember the year. I do remember being excited when we finally got 56k and we had one of the spooled telecoil winders to hook it up. The interconnect on the pole was so crappy though it was lucky to be 28kbps on the best day.

It was glorious waiting 10 minutes for a titty pic to load line by line.

Now.. kids are going to run into the weirdest internet shit in 4k VR glory by the time they are eight and a half. No wonder the youngest adults today are so f'ed in the head.

[kidicarus13]

1995

[ChickNorris]

With 'exposure & internet' in the title I expected at least one smart-ass dirty comment by post #8. Nerds.

[bradbn4]

I remember when the office picked up a micro vax to hook up to another micro vax to share files....I remember the training indicating that about once a month we needed to download what was effectively a IP Host table (/etc/hosts).
All it was to be used for was file transfers from a remote detachment to the headquarters location.

At another work location I saw what unlimited exposure pictures looked like without having to use a modem. - there you go - your reference.

[colorider]

dial up connection. Downloading pics at the rate of half a boob every hour. LOL LOL LOL