Sunday, December 1, 2024

    I remember how my Internet usage first started. I was at the University of New Orleans, learning how to use a text only browser called "Lynx" (or something like that), c. 1997.  The "Lynx" browser was essentially an index of hyperlinks to academic texts all over the world. It couldn't show images or play sound. Soon after first using Lynx, I discovered another Internet browser-Windows 3.0. This could deliver pictures and sound files! The transition from text-only to sound, audio and video seemed to happen overnight. People began talking about their favorite websites, like My Space, ICQ, Napster, and others. Wireless modems began appearing on laptops-they were typically the size of a hand held walkie-talkie, and attached to the back of the screen/lid by Velcro strips. The connection speeds were very slow compared to 2024 standards. An mp3 sound file would take about ten minutes to download, for example. The first modems were about 28 kbps, then 56 kbps came out and everyone thought that was great.