Your first time online (on the internet)

[Andrew 760]

It was before I went to college - and that was 1993 so I'd guess at 1992. Alta Vista was the search engine of choice on Netscape Communicator. Think I might have put 1990 though Chris so please amend it.

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

Good job we have a custom written database interface behind this site isn't it. Pah, users.

Done.

[rottenbend 0]

It was before I went to college - and that was 1993 so I'd guess at 1992. Alta Vista was the search engine of choice on Netscape Communicator. Think I might have put 1990 though Chris so please amend it.

Communicator wasn't around until 1994 and AltaVista was 1995 (although it had been used internally with DEC for a while before that).

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

Well I ain't changing it again.

[JamesB 31]

I'm amazed that so many people can remember their first time online. I struggle to remember what happened last weekend.

[bazza_g 369]

I'm amazed that so many people can remember their first time online. I struggle to remember what happened last weekend.

The ability to remember something that happened years ago and the ability to remember what happened recently are quite different! I can recall my childhood in great detail but the last few weeks are always a fog/blur/mess

[m4ttm4son 198]

I don't remember at all the FIRST time I was online, but the era of first online-ness is still clear. The noise of the 56kb/s modem is still very dear to my heart along with boasting to my 28kb/s owning friends

[stooH 261]

wasn't their a modem speed in between 33.3kb or something, i'm sure I got one at that kind of speed which was just marginally faster than their crap 28kb ones

[Lussac 77]

I worked on the development of Prestel/Viewdata/Teletel/Bildschirmtext and Teletext services in the early 80's which were all on-line services of a sort that linked through to applications/databases on different machines. The Teletel srvice was still in use in France up to a couple of years ago.

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

Now that's interesting.

I had no idea France was running such technologies until so recently. I was a big user of Teletext and BBC Oracle in their day

[rottenbend 0]

Now that's interesting.

I had no idea France was running such technologies until so recently. I was a big user of Teletext and BBC Oracle in their day

When I lived in France in the mid-to-late 80s, we had a Minitel console which was a bit like Prestel. It was pretty advanced for the time.

[Lussac 77]

Now that's interesting.

I had no idea France was running such technologies until so recently. I was a big user of Teletext and BBC Oracle in their day

Yes, a lot of official information, rail and bus timetables, school info was all still available on Minitel terminals until it was finally shut down in 2008. A local hotel still has it's Minitel under the counter!!

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

Wow. I used to rely on Teletext for football scores - sat pressing the reload/refresh button with minutes to go in games.

[mb 0]

Done.

Used a ISP called Globalnet for my first dial up connection, not sure if they're still around or been bought out now. Arrrhh dial up... those were the days!

Me too ! They were bought by GXN Networks & finally Pipex

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

Me too ! They were bought by GXN Networks & finally Pipex

...who in turn were bought by Opal who were then acquired by TalkTalk earlier this year.

Telecoms acquisitions cause customers quite a bit of hassle too. I know of the above because MrsMe's company has one of numerous broadband lines that is now managed by TalkTalk. In 18 months they've been told of the February acquisition (TalkTalk buying Opal) and prior to that the Opal acquisition of Pipex - and had 3 different support numbers to call!

It's also, by far, their most unreliable line.

[Waylander 1,351]

I know it was when I started Uni in 1992. I think I used something called JANET but I think that was for email?? (help me out here guys).

I did NOT of course ever use Netscape to access online pron using university computers...

[Waylander 1,351]

Wow. I used to rely on Teletext for football scores - sat pressing the reload/refresh button with minutes to go in games.

Me too! My Ceefax and Teletext fixation used to drive my mates potty!

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

I know it was when I started Uni in 1992. I think I used something called JANET but I think that was for email?? (help me out here guys).

I did NOT of course ever use Netscape to access online pron using university computers...

Post it then - put it on the site, oh and send the link around the whole NHS network for me too please.

Ok, just send it to a few friends.

[Waylander 1,351]

You want me to post up my strong assertion that I never used university or hospital computers to access pron?

That's fine - as long as no-one makes the mistale and misidentifies me with someone who DID do this of course.....

So JANET was just email then wasn't it?

[stooH 261]

There's not even an add to facebook/like button on the page. Rubbish design....

[patently 4,674]

I heard of an older academic who thought the JANET network was a collection of particularly gregarious female academics, all called Janet, who had come across one smother and kept in regular contact.

This was discovered when he asked who "the department's Janet" was, so that he could tell her something that he'd been asked to share via the JANET network.

No idea if its true, probably apocryphal. But I like the story

[NewNiceMrMe 3,155]

There's not even an add to facebook/like button on the page. Rubbish design....

Actually that is a very good point indeed. I'll get them to add that next.