My first encounter with the Internet

[igenlode]

This is what the Internet (Usenet not the World-wide Web) looked like to a computer novice circa 1994...

The Internet is a sort of computer network which R__ and O___ keep talking about, that I finally managed to get onto. It reminds me of a sort of cross between a multi-user telephone line and the letters page of a newspaper. Basically people seem to post messages and remarks in appropriate newsgroup headings (like 'bonsai' or 'asimov' or 'british-accent' and other people put up replies and comments. It is full of Americans because apparently it extends all the way across the United States as well as reaching here.

Comments

[capri0mni]

I remember those days (I even have foggy, very early memories of multi-user telephone lines)!

... This is a very accurate description.

I'm kind of sad, now that Usenet is a mere remnant of what it once was.

[igenlode]

The computer-related bits are still alive-ish (the new Raspberry Pi group comp.sys.raspberry-pi sees quite a bit of traffic), but I'm afraid the alt.fan.* groups are pretty much dead.

[capri0mni]

... Yeah. And those were the places where I discovered the joys and headaches of fan culture as a whole (fanfic, and cosplay, and conventions and inside jokes), and a good portion of even my current online friendships.

It's like driving past your childhood hometown on the highway, and seeing a near ghost town.