Stroll down memory lane with this 1996 instructional video on How To Internet

[OneMoreThing...]

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  The log-in screen for the much-reviled America Online (AOL). [credit: Diamond Entertainment Corp ]
  

The Internet Archive's extensive library is a veritable treasure trove of digital content, including media from now-defunct formats like VHS, with the goal of preserving our cultural heritage. Case in point: a 1996 video, Everything You Need To Know About... Introduction to the Internet (listed as 95021 in what one assumes is a series), was recently uploaded to the archive.

Even the minimal technical requirements to log on convey a sense of just how far we've come since then in terms of sheer computing power. Viewers needed a Macintosh or IBM (or IBM compatible) personal computer loaded with either Windows 3.11 or Windows 95; a modem capable of 14.4 transmission or higher; "at least" 8MB of RAM; and a minimum 500MB hard drive. (For comparison, the 2020 MacBook Pros come with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of onboard memory, and 1TB of hard drive storage, configurable to 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB.)

It's probably a good thing that we don't get any period sound effects, because the classic sound of a dial-up modem connecting—ever so slowly—would no doubt evoke painful memories for those times one's connection kept dropping and one had to reconnect over and over again, just to send a few measly emails. Dial-up access is still used in particularly rural or remote areas where broadband hasn't yet been installed, but it's approaching extinction: a 2013 Pew Survey found that just 3 percent of US adults still relied on dialup at that point.

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[chscag]

Anyone here old enough to remember those days?

 

[pm-r]

Anyone here old enough to remember those days?

Sure is!!!
And by 1996, we had possibly upgraded to a "screaming fast" 14.4 Mbps US Robotics FAX/modem and its screaming like a banshee.

Such nostalgia and such progress!!!


- Patrick
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[chscag]

LOL Patrick, I just the other day took my US Robotics modem to Good Will along with a bunch of other stuff that was ancient.

Yeah, I remember those days well. Back in those days I was doing the BBS thing along with getting on the net with an outfit here in Texas that I can't even remember their name. I was never a member of AOL, but I knew lots of folks who were.

 

[MacInWin]

I ran a BBS for a Heath/Zenith user group at one time. I had 8 telephone lines in, each with a modem attached, to get to the BBS. I got a visit from the police wondering if I was running a bookie shop with all those lines. Gave them a tour of the "server" room to assure them I was not.

 

[pm-r]

LOL Patrick, I just the other day took my US Robotics modem to Good Will along with a bunch of other stuff that was ancient.

Being a bit of a packrat, I think my US Robotics Speaker Modems are still in a box in our basement somewhere, and I sure wish they would still work with current Macs, especially for Faxing, which was a **** of a lot better with Global Village Fax software than any recent AIO printer/FAX machine that I have ever used.

I had to send off some faxes a week or so ago to two different places as they do not accept emails. So faxing isn't dead yet.

I wonder how many members here actually used bulletin boards and I think one of the software choices to use was First Class or something.

But I really do not miss the screaming noise of the old modem making connection noises etc. The faxing connection noise of my current printer/FAX machine Is bad enough, and luckily quite infrequent...


- Patrick
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[chscag]

I ran a BBS for a Heath/Zenith user group at one time.

I wonder how many folks even remember who or what Heath was? I built many Heathkits in my younger days and still have a 24 hour digital clock that I built. The clock uses Nixie tubes (remember those?).

As for Zenith, my Dad had an old stand up console Zenith radio that I remember as a kid. Was a fantastic radio in its time. I do remember when Zenith purchased the Heath Company that was located in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

 

[MacInWin]

I built two Heathkit dumb terminals, plus one H-100 computer, and a 2 meter amateur radio for my car. Heathkits were good quality products and the instructions made it easy to build. The Heathkit was a H-100, the Zenith computer was a Z-100, exactly the same. They both used the S-100 bus system which had a lot more capability than the pitiful bus in the IBM PCs of the day, but IBM won out. The good ol' days of home-brew.

 

[pm-r]

Heathkits were good quality products and the instructions made it easy to build.

I had a 40-watt Heathkit stereo amplifier that provided excellent sound. It seemed to have a nice warm sound to It compared to the transistorized digital stereo amplifier that replaced it.

But both years before any dial-up modems and BBSs or AOL.


- Patrick
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[Raz0rEdge]

Yup remember those days, started with the 300 baud modem and all the up to 56k. USR was my go-to along with Zoom (not to be confused with the current application).

Ran a BBS for a couple of years on PC/Board on a couple of lines. Never got sucked into the AOL stuff, but was using FTP/Gopher a lot.

I remember the early days of email with FIDONet.

Can't tell you how many hours of my life I spent playing LORD (Legends of the Red Dragon) on my other BBS' and you can still play it now.

 

[Mitcherooney]

Does anyone remember Compuserve? An expensive way of getting anemail sent

 

[pm-r]

Yup remember those days, started with the 300 baud modem and all the up to 56k.

Gee, I had forgotten that some modems could use the faster 56k speed modems where they were supported. And the FAXing speeds were capable of the 14.4 and maybe faster.

I'm not sure what speed some of the newer FAX machines can run, but some are sure fast.


- Patrick
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[chscag]

Does anyone remember Compuserve? An expensive way of getting anemail sent

Yep. Remember it well. And also remember the first Compuserve Windows program they sold which got you on their net and was used to post and reply to messages.

And yes, I remember FIDOnet very well. I was a member of several FIDO run BBS boards here in the Dallas area. Back in those days it was a long distance call from my home near Fort Worth to the FIDO boards in Dallas. I wound up getting a Metro Area phone line from Verizon which allowed calling throughout the Dallas - Fort Worth area without invoking an extra charge.

 

[harryb2448]

Ahh those were the days my Performa running 7.6.1. Internet Explorer for Mac, Netscape Navigator and the beautiful Claris Works, forerunner of ApppleWorks. MUGS (Macintosh User Groups) were the go with a DVD or floppies issued monthly of updates, software and games.