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Kids, this is how we used to have to internet up hill both ways

I remember when the Web was first becoming A Thing. Back in’t day.

I remember in PSHRE (Personal Social Health and Religious Education - I know, they added a letter every year) when the teacher said they were going to have a session to show us how to use the Internet in the Library.

For the vast majority of people, the library, school computer room, or work would have been the other way they could access the Internet.

I wanted to learn, so I put up my hand to sign up for the demo. The school bullies saw that I was keen and put up their hands, too - pointing and laughing at me the whole time. I put my hand down. They put their down. I put mine up again. They put theirs up again... this went on until I gave up and decided, well, I guess I don’t get to learn about the Internet yet then.

Later (I don’t remember how much later) when I was visiting Mum (my parents were divorced) she excitedly told me she was going to show me the Internet on her work laptop.

We had to use it in my sister’s bedroom. I don’t know why, but I am assuming something to do with a router - no one explained that kind of thing to me back then.

She started up Netscape. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. And eventually the search engine (I assume Alta Vista - Alta Vista was the *good* search engine back in’t day) loaded.

She told me to search for something. I had no idea what I would want to search for. Why would I? I have never HAD an Internet before. I didn’t know what it was for!

I decided on Queen, because a large part of my life consisted of listening to the music of Queen at that time.

We put ‘Queen’ into the search engine (with a capital letter, because the idea that you would not capitalise correctly, would have made me very uncomfortable - I didn’t text, I would not have a mobile phone for another 8 years. It was a very different time).

And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. And eventually Mum said we’d have to try again later.

That was my first experience of the Internet. Delayed by bullies because learning about the Internet was something only a keen bean would do. Then privileged to have a sneak peak because my mum had a work laptop and used it for her job. Then it was very slow, I didn’t know what to do with it, and ultimately it didn’t work.

Within a couple of years I was using it regularly (Dad got dial-up at home) and I told my English AS Level teacher that I had learnt this new and mysterious word ‘lol’. No one else had heard of it. My teacher said it was going to be a very exciting time linguistically, with an explosion of new language, just like what happened with Shakespeare and the printing press.

He was right.

When pressed, I admitted I wasn’t entirely sure of the meaning of ‘lol’.

#internet history #back int day #me #lol #english language

We sell Pokemon cards in the shop i work in, and sometimes i get really tempted to buy a pack, ya know, for old times sake. But i know if i do it will be filled with all the crappy new Pokemon that i don't know. I want old school Pokemon cards.

#Pokemon #pokemon cards #retro #back int day