When was your 1st time on the internet?

[wurlitzer153]

i don't remember the exact date, but i believe i was 1998. We just bought a brand new Gateway 2000 computer that was a whooping 200MHz, and had a 2GB hard drive. We subscribed to AOL 3.0 and signed on with a blazing fast 33.6 modem.

Chatrooms were hilarious.

I remember looking over my big sister's shoulder on AOL chatrooms, I think they were usually Trek related. My personal first time online was around '96 or so, but my family had it for a while earlier.

I started reading The Lurker's Guide sometime in late season 3 of B5. I believe it was after WWE aired but before Grey 17.

[Morbo]

the best thing about chatrooms was that they were always full of a bunch of dudes either looking for lesbians, or pretending to be lesbians.

[Graybrew1]

I was not a dude, and not pretending to be a lesbian, either. LOL. My and friends used to think it was fun to sit around and talk to guys from all over the place.........Ah ...Shades of things to come.

[Gatefan1976]

the best thing about chatrooms was that they were always full of a bunch of dudes either looking for lesbians, or pretending to be lesbians.

[Cold Fuzz]

I remember looking over my big sister's shoulder on AOL chatrooms, I think they were usually Trek related. My personal first time online was around '96 or so, but my family had it for a while earlier.

I started reading The Lurker's Guide sometime in late season 3 of B5. I believe it was after WWE aired but before Grey 17.

The Lurker's Guide was one of my favorite haunts back in the day. I remember when it was still brand new back in season 1. I still turn to it on occasion to look up information about an episode.

[ZRFTS]

Technology is an ever present part of our lives, ever since the first clunky PC in the 40's; mankind has constantly strived to make technology as small and easy as possible and while we're at the point where that is mostly possible, there is still lots that mankind can do to make that happen. While the stuff that can be done is reminiscent of science fiction, the stuff we can do with technology ourselves are increasingly becoming limited.

While the technology of today gives us easier access to information and social oppertunities; it also puts us at threat of relying too much on technology. Every day more and more people are using more time on the computer and more time using social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and while that may keep people connected; it can also create an environment where people have a diluted sense of what's good and what's bad and where there isn't as many opportunities for creativity or uniqueness.

The old generation of people are dieing out, being replaced by newer people, more "technically savvy" people if you can call it that. These newer people are lost in their own worlds, surrounded by ideologies they blindly follow and stuff they willingly ignore; that's a major problem when it comes to the future because the people who move the future are the ones with unique ideas and radical thinking patterns. Those people are getting rarer and rarer to find and since those people are thinning out, there is no one to set high standards that everyone can follow. Those lesser standards can allow for less talented and undeserving people to get though and those undeserving people can affect the higher standing people, lowering them to their standards.

This may have happened before many times, but it's only now that the advent of modern internet society has revealed this to everyone. Technology connects people, but the people defining the technology world are diluting the purpose of technology; people should not have to be forced into certain cliches, people should not have to dumb themselves down in order to fit in, they should not have to try to be cool, they should just be themselves without any forced expectations upon them. Sure, Facebook/Google+/Twitter are a part of our lives but we shouldn't have to be forced to have one just to be a part of the internet; we should be more open in everything; nothing should be tied down to one specific service.

The people in the "geek culture" shouldn't be focusing on the cliche stuff like computing and referencing pop culture; they should be focusing on technology, they should be focusing on making that industry revolutionary. Technology can improve lives, technology can advance the future and there are tons of jobs in the tech industry. Those people should be making a difference in those fields rather then making a thing out of being in those fields; I want technology to be something I'm proud to mention, not something I regret being around and not something I want to have my future children against.

The technology of today may appear to have potential but it's a part of the problem rather then the actual solution, rather then rely on social networks/internet culture/expectations; we should rely on actually connecting people together, coexisting instead of worrying about whether the person will block you and whether or not they will be able to reconcile with you. No one should have to worry about anything on the internet, everybody should feel free, no one should have to lower their expectations, no one should have to teach someone to not expand their horizons, they should be able to do so regardless without any pressure whatsoever. We have the people, why not teach them to reach far and think differently?

[SF_and_Coffee]

Wait... what PC was around in the 1940s? There weren't PCs back then...

[jeri]

Well said, Zombies. I notice the eroding influence of the media in people’s perception of the world. I wonder if the proliferation of violent gaming and films has lead to a confusion in our value system in the younger generation. Well, perhaps all generations, a subliminal effect. Not that the world has ever been a perfect place, but it seems more and more people revel in revenge. The moral compass of society has been misaligned.

For instance, I recently have been disturbed by the lack of moral correctness in some forum posters comments about justice issues. There have been folks saying a certain character should be killed, and one other is justified in trying to kill. The sad fact of that issue is the infraction is wrong, but not a capitol offense. Folks who side with one character only demand justice for their side, the hell with the other. They may only be fictional characters, but what does that say about the moral character of these people commenting. Justice must be universal, or it has no value.

As you mention in your post, the lowering of standards effects us all. Compassion and justice must be universal for all, or we all suffer. When people can’t understand the difference between right and wrong, the society degrades into eventual anarchy. The proliferation of techno toys has led some into a world of uncertain values, where chaos rules. Brief text messages, tweets and social media sites leave little room for critical thinking. More we are pressed to come up with a witty saying or perhaps just endurance, who can type “me, too!” or “ur” quickest.

Critical thinking is the base platform for new and innovative thought. How can our civilization progress if we are in a constant state of distraction by our devices? Devices which have content mostly controlled by some unknown entity. Usually only concerned with influencing our spending power.

[SoulReaver]

1999

[Tyjos]

I'd have to say around 1997-1998 when I got on the only library PC that they had hooked to the internet through a dialup connection back in my hometown in Middle School....

Man that seemed soooo long ago....I can't remember the right year but it was a LONG time ago that's for sure.

Since I've had my original email since 1999.

[mad_gater]

Wait... what PC was around in the 1940s? There weren't PCs back then...

Zombies might've meant the 80's and mistyped...only computer that might've been around in the 40's were analog computers that drew their output on paper with a pen attached to a robotic arm controlled by the computer...such a computer was used in the old sci-fi B-movie "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers"

[SF_and_Coffee]

Zombies might've meant the 80's and mistyped...only computer that might've been around in the 40's were analog computers that drew their output on paper with a pen attached to a robotic arm controlled by the computer...such a computer was used in the old sci-fi B-movie "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers"

Far as I know, there wasn't anything like that in the 40's either. At least, not outside of scifi writers' imaginations.

Basically, something like ENIAC was state-of-the-art in the 1940s.

[ZRFTS]

Zombies might've meant the 80's and mistyped...only computer that might've been around in the 40's were analog computers that drew their output on paper with a pen attached to a robotic arm controlled by the computer...such a computer was used in the old sci-fi B-movie "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers"

There were computers in the past, while they weren't the computers we know today, they could still do calculations and complex stuff that humans couldn't do as well...

Here's what I'm talking about.


@SF_and_Coffee: I know they aren't exactly PC's but it was the beginning of the sign of an ever evolving time where technology was starting to take over (not just PC's specifically). Granted it wasn't possible yet but it was still a possibility. The computers of the 70's were the first PC's ever released to customers, you are right about that.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Yes, but the specific reference was to PCs, and PC stands for "personal computer". There were no personal computers in the 1940s; that was my point.

I took computer science classes in college in the Eighties and they did include the history of computing...

[Rawtheran]

About 2004 when I was about 8 or seven. I would get up and play online games on nick.com everyday. I've outgrown that though, and have moved on.