Ten years ago, I was a 16 year old student who just happened to be around at the right time. Computers were starting to become something people actually had at home, and some of them even knew what to do with them ! We were also in the midst of the beginning of one of the most exciting times in history; the mainstream use of the internet.
Being the young geek I was, and having very generous parents, I had my very own internet connection. Ah, the good old days of 33.6Kbps modems (anyone remember the Psion Dacom Surfer ?). I’m not going to lie and say I miss them as I most certainly don’t, but back then being online was something special, at least to me.
To cut a long story short, the first quarter’s bill came in at around £600 for my phone line ! For those who weren’t around back then, internet usage was a pay by the minute business. I liked me some internet !
Finally BT launched an ISP where you could have free internet access after 6pm. It was then that I started to live online. IRC was all the rage back then, along with a service called ICQ by Mirabilis. A quick search says that this is still on the go, though I’ve not used it for years.
Back in the bad old days I was also a poor Windows user. I didn’t know any better ! I remember one of the web sites I used to frequent was ActiveWin, and somehow I ended up doing a review of the hip thing of the day; ICQ. I don’t remember how it happened to be honest, but it was the first time the internet was subjected to my ramblings long before this site. So, ladies and gentleman, if you want someone to blame, blame Byron Hinson !
I’ve linked to the article here, should anyone fancy a gander at what at the time wasn’t bad for a 16 year old ! Be gentle!
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