The Internet:  1985

Does anyone but me remember telnet, PC Pursuit, or dial up bulletin boards ???
OMG .. my age is showing :gulp:

Don't fret, BD. My first computer experience was in high school, circa 1970: a DEC machine which we communicated with by a teletype keyboard, no monitor. Programs stored on punch tapes.

Since I live in the boonies, my internet still comes via my phone lines. However it is now fast enough to watch movies.
My first computer course in Fortran meant coding on a printed pad and taking it to a typist. She would enter your code and you got the punch cards. Remarkably, I can't remember them making a typo!
She = Typist ... it was 1969!

I just checked my speed again.
http://www.internetspeedtest.in/results.php?kbps=5131.5&downloadtime=4.619&KB=2893.375&recorded=1

It is 5.01 Mbps. Not bad for phone lines. My city cousin has a much faster connection, but I don't have a data limit. Not my rant - "The data downward limit is a farce!"
I can stream movies all day long for my base price.

Roadrunner is great, IF the tech who installs it does the job right and IF when there is a problem the first tech they send out finds it so it does not take a half dozen service calls to get it right.

I had a little BBS in my home office "back in the day" but I'd been sending data from my credit union office back to "the world" well before that over phone lines/modem. And, even before that.... The USS Shangri-La CVA38 (my bird farm back in the late 60's) had a main frame on board and as we used it to run payroll. Punch cards & print outs! I really believe we could have done it faster by hand.

I average about 12Mbps over some SERIOUSLY old phone lines. My contract is for up to 24Mbps unlimited d/load. This all fits in with the unlimited international long distance for about $35US a month.

My first computer, and Internet, experience was in high school. The teacher showed us several things including 2 games, one was the classic Star Trek text game and the other was a very crude text based dungeons and dragons game. That was 1975 or maybe early 76. Nearly forty years later I'm still using the Internet to do the same thing. Now there's progress for you.

And I forgot we used an acoustic telephone coupler. We thought it was the coolest thing we ever saw.

Here's an even earlier look at the Internet, one almost scarily accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Logic_Named_Joe

You can either settle for the summary or get the whole tale under Story.

It's scary, sometimes, reading those old S/F stories; just how close to the actual developments they got!

I wonder if there's any relation; Web Design, All-in-One For Dummies by Sue Jenkings

I find it very odd to find a text based D&D game being out that early, as the earliest versions of D&D (called Chainmail back then) came out in 74, if I recall correctly. I'm a big gamer, so have a fairly good idea of its history.

I built my first "computer" and many others back then. I can still want to shoot myself for selling early domain names. I once had sex.com before the internet was known to most. (BTW people you still don't "own" a domain name.. you simply have the current usage rights to it that you can sell)

I remember programming in hexadecimal on various early microprocessors as well as using punch cards on the early VAX systems in college. If you thought BASIC was wordy you shoulda tried COBOL.

Thanks for making me not feel so old Paul et al.

Signing off for now ... EA EA EA (NOP NOP NOP)

The text based D&D game, as I remember, was very crude. The choices were limited and your character didn't have real D&D classes and powers. It was more D&D in atmosphere than reality. I stuck to Star Trek.

I built my first computer too! A Heathkit/Sinclair With the old 8088 chip set. Slower than Mole Asses in January! It was a big deal to switch from paper punch-tape to a modified cassette tape deck for storing programs/data. Prior to the Internet there were BBS's linked together, Like the one started by dead heads, Called the WELL. That stood for the Whole Earth Lectronic Link!
@BD Did you cash in on the need for temp. COBOL programmers back in the Y2K! I DID!
Anyone nostalgic, or curious THIS is what computers sound like when they meet in cyberspace and shake hands! :coolsmile: :lol:

My first computer had 2K of memory. I swapped for a RC model plane.

Its amazing how far things have progressed in a relatively short amount of time. Also some seriously intellegent people here on WU, as always I am impressed by the company I am lucky enough to keep here.

@patty - You still get idiots like me. :lol:

It always warms the cockles of my old heart to learn that there are still women in the USofA that know their place and can show proper respect for men. 🦆 😜

BMN don't sell yourself short honey, you are one of a kind! 😉
See how smart you are Expat dear, you know precisely how far away you have to be to get away with that comment. 💋

One of a kind? I guess the world should be grateful that I don't have an evil twin. 😊