what is "internet?"

[holli]

God, this news report from 1996 is strange to watch-- the aloof, anthropological tone used to discuss this strange new thing called "Internet" is so funny in retrospect, but I guess it made sense at the time. The trouble is, now I feel like I'm watching a couple of Victorians scratch their heads over a horse-less carriage. It's hilariously lacking in foresight, and yet, also sort of sweetly nostalgic-- I feel so bad for the poor guy enthusing over how polite and conflict-free Usenet is.

I was 10 when this was filmed. It was at least another year before my dad signed us up for embryonic AOL. And now I watch embedded video on my tiny, shiny laptop, before going off to update my Livejournal and maybe post some digital photos to Flickr. Doesn't this much change usually take longer?

Comments

[jendotcom.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA

i can't even handle this part (therefore i had to take the time to screencap it):

[holli.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, right? And he even TELLS US we have to turn our heads to the left to understand it-- because clearly we the viewers are too unfamiliar with this crazy new technology to figure that one out on our own. That is my favorite part, after poor "Usenet will be a bastion of civil discourse for the ages" guy.

Oh, Internet. You bring us so much.

[ranamok85.livejournal.com]

I have to admit - my family got the internet in 1995, over the summer while I was away at camp. To tell me about it, my dad sent me a long list of smileys and the like, asking me if I could figure them out. At the time, I was totally baffled. Asked the other kids - they had no clue. Asked the counselors - no one knew! If only someone had told me to turn my head to the left...

My, how times have changed.

[fatoudust.livejournal.com]

Huh. Fascinating. We must have been further along the tech curve than I'd realized, because by 1996 I was already heavily into multiplayer gaming (okay, admittedly text-based), and by 1998 I was employed by the gaming firm, which was located 500 miles away. I know I hacked my C64 to hook up with a Vic modem in what, 85? But there wasn't much out there at the time and I was offline for a while after that. Wonder if I could suss out when I actually got connected back up.