Can you recall the first time you used the internet?

Gael

Gael

Senior Member
Location
County Down, N Ireland
When was it, where and what did you do when you got online?

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Yep I remember
Chap next door set it up for me night before
He went to work next day
I got that "You have performed an illegal operation"

I was expecting a knock on the door all day from the police!!!!!
 
:lofl::lofl: Similar to me Phants, i got a huge warning thingy come on the screen saying i had to shut down immediately,i was scared out of my wits i got out of there quick smart and didn't use that PC again , i gave it to my daughter and about 2 years later got a laptop and taught myself to use it
 
My husband has had computers since about 1990, if not before. I first started using one about 1997/98 when I first went on-line and joined my first forum. I got into digital art, and found it useful for my poetry and writing. I would be desolate without my computer as it is one of the most important things in my life after my family.
 
At the start I was also too trusting of someone I met on the Net. She was a woman from Florida, whom I regarded as a friendly acquaintance, she was a poster on one of the forums of which I was also a member. I even phoned her from the UK and we seemed to get on well. I was appalled by her sad tale of woe, and wanted to help her. If she had actually asked me for money, I would have been very wary and probably not have given her any. However her circumstances were so dire I felt I had to put my hand in my pocket and help her out. I parted with about £1000 in American dollars in the end! When I made it quite clear no more would be forthcoming, as I had a new grandchild on whom I wanted to spend my money, she made an excuse to fall out with me on the forum! I later discovered from other forum members that some had helped her out too, and when the money stopped coming she fell out with them as well. Of course I felt a total idiot and my husband and kids were not exactly thrilled at my stupidity either! I have wised up since, and I am very wary of Internet friendships. About three years ago I couldn't believe it when I had an e-mail purporting to come from this woman claiming that she was at Heathrow Airport in London, had lost her handbag and purse and wanted me to 'loan' her £2,000, to be paid in on-line to her bank account. You can imagine my reaction!:mad:
 
My first time was in December 1997. I had heard so many people talking about it, I decided it was time to satisfy my curiosity. I ordered an AOL disk and went on line using dial-up for 3 free hours a week or a month (not sure about that now). After about 1 hour into searching the web and jumping from website to website, I went back into my account and signed up for unlimited. After a year of searching info on holidays, shopping, on-line museums (including one I had actually seen on a trip to Hawaii) I decided to try my hand at web design. The first tool I used was AOL's personal publisher. When I clicked the publish button and then the URL, it took me a split second to know that this was something I had to pursue. Since that time I've created a number of different websites, host some website accounts and dabbled with digital graphics and painting. I, too, would not be able to get along without my computer any more.
 
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My son fixed me up with a PC, printer etc. and told me to play with it. I saw a site where people needed a "Pen Pal".

A girl from Texas wrote that she would like to have a pen pal, so I said that I'd be a pen pal with her. And before she replied

BANG!, I get an e-mail from a woman from California who said she had just moved here and needed a friend.

I e-mailed her and we became pen pals.
 
I was 26 and I had moved to California and landed in the heart of Silicon Valley in 1988. I too remember getting an aol disk and setting up dial-up internet. I never had the guts to go into any chat rooms because I am always wary of strangers online but I loved browsing for information (sort of like having a huge library in the comfort of my apartment).
 
I got online in 2000. It was the wild west then with a dial up connection and AOL. Always getting cut off and waiting ages to get back on. Like riding a bucking bronco.:crying:

I was overwhelmed by suddenly having access to so much information; like a gigantic cyber library. I wound up meeting my husband online so it was truly a gateway to a life changing path.

Today, it continues to be a source of information and communication. Well, here I sit talking to you good folks thanks to it.
 
Even working in the industry I was never really interested until my best friend kept telling me it was like having a library at home. So, I visited him and sure enough was hooked. I think we checked out some music sites and surfing sites and, of course, looked at naked ladies. I really became interested in people's personal pages and found so many that were "under construction" going nowhere. Finally, one entitled "Me Me and All About Me" cured me . . . ! Then, I really wanted to chat with people and visited so many until there was one full of kindhearted, friendly folk.
 
That Guy said:
Even working in the industry I was never really interested until my best friend kept telling me it was like having a library at home. So, I visited him and sure enough was hooked. I think we checked out some music sites and surfing sites and, of course, looked at naked ladies. I really became interested in people's personal pages and found so many that were "under construction" going nowhere. Finally, one entitled "Me Me and All About Me" cured me . . . ! Then, I really wanted to chat with people and visited so many until there was one full of kindhearted, friendly folk.
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That library thing is exactly how it seemed to me. And now I feel cut off if my pc is down and I want to look something up.
 
Must have got dial-up in about 1995 or 1996, and it was very expensive then!
Our first computer was a Sinclair spectrum..so it was a natural progression really.

I can't really remember what we used it for then...but by the time elder son went to Oxford; in 1998 ish; we were on to laptops etc; and have just continued really; through wi-fi and now I-phones and I-pads.

I use it for banking; e-mails; information of all types, and you are my first forum; I am a scaredy-cat really!
 
Justme said:
I promised my family that I wouldn't ever get friendly again with anyone I haven't met in person.
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I established a friendship with a woman here in N Ireland that still flourishes. I had joined a Christian pen pal site when I first came online in 2000. And my husband I met..the rest is history!

But you do have to be incredibly careful with online hookups. The ability to deceive someone is so easy to do online. And don't even think about the problems involving children and online deception and abuse.:mad:
 
Vivjen said:
Must have got dial-up in about 1995 or 1996, and it was very expensive then!
Our first computer was a Sinclair spectrum..so it was a natural progression really.

I can't really remember what we used it for then...but by the time elder son went to Oxford; in 1998 ish; we were on to laptops etc; and have just continued really; through wi-fi and now I-phones and I-pads.

I use it for banking; e-mails; information of all types, and you are my first forum; I am a scaredy-cat really!
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It's really about whose hands this tool is in. Like anything, it can be used for good or ill.
 
In 1984 I started using a computer at work and can't believe how antiquated our systems sound now! Our computers were networked, but was there even an internet back then? I can't remember. In 1989 I did some work at home for a real estate school creating their workbooks and teaching manuals. I used an Apple computer back then that we rented.

We got our very own PC in 1989. Was it expensive? Oh, yes indeed it was! We paid around $2500 for it, and holy cow! internet service about broke us...I think we went to AOL and logged in, paid for the amount of time we used. When we moved back to Michigan, we had service through the local college and paid something like $30/month for it. Dial up. Took forfreakingever to get on line, especially in the evening when the college students were using it to do their homework.
 
I remember getting a job at Gloger Toyota in 1978. They were opening a new dealership, and I had the challenge of setting up the auto parts warehouse with an inventory schematic. All that was a lot of fun, until three months later, when they set a computer on my desk, and told me to set up the same schematics on it. After I hollered for a program manual, which I promptly read, everything worked out. I did that at several other dealerships.
My husband and I had Comcast set us up with an online connection in 1992 in our home. He was an online surfer from the first day. Not me! Doing accounting work on the computer 10 to 12 hours a day was enough for me. Plus I had school, where I helped computerized the statistics class. Now that was a lot of fun.
 
I worked for a house rental referral agency in 1984, and we had an old DOS computer (well, it was new back then), and I entered the information of houses for rent from the landlords that I called on the phone; and we printed out lists of rentals for people that were house hunting. It was my most favorite job ever; and even today, sometimes I dream I am still working there.

There was no internet that I know of at that time, and my first real computer that went online was in the early 90's. My daughter, Robin, was stationed in Germany, and I only got to talk to her every now and then for a few minutes, since overseas calls were so expensive; plus the time difference made it hard to call.
I wanted to be able to email her, and she had access to a computer; so my oldest son set up a computer for me and showed me how it worked; and I sent Robin that first wonderful email. When she got up (nite for me), she read it and wrote back; and after that I felt like we were close together again, and we could write as often as we wanted.

It was $25 a month for the dialup, and I just went online, got my email, and went offline to read it; wrote any answers; and went back online to send the emails. Sometimes, it took an hour of dialing, just to get an open line to use.
Seems crazy to me now, but back then, it was Heaven !
 
I think it was sometime in 1993. I had gotten the computer that summer, and first experience was with AOL, sending im's with my son, and aol chat with an old friend. Actually, I had been around computers all my adult life, as my late XH was a computer specialist way back when it took acres of tape drives to add 2+2, and did my masters thesis using IBM punch cards. Anyone remember ''don't fold, spindle, mutilate?''
 
I got my first computer in '82. No windows then, used Doss. It had a 20 meg harddrive. I bought it from my wife's nephew who was already something of a geek. I knew nothing about computers. Bought a book of doss and learned to use it. Got it to write on the screen each morning when I turned it on: 'Good morning, Boss. What will we learn today.' I have lost so much info I never consider them anything but temporary.
 
Geezerette said:
I think it was sometime in 1993. I had gotten the computer that summer, and first experience was with AOL, sending im's with my son, and aol chat with an old friend. Actually, I had been around computers all my adult life, as my late XH was a computer specialist way back when it took acres of tape drives to add 2+2, and did my masters thesis using IBM punch cards. Anyone remember ''don't fold, spindle, mutilate?''
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Heard that expression in the past. Well, you lived to tell the tale about AOL. It nearly killed me!:aargh:
 
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