Been on here around that long too. 2006/7 I forget - I remember
I had to resurrect my ancient college email address from 25
years ago to do it. I wasn't overly impressed then - didn't
think it would take off. Used it mostly as a junk-bin for link
SEO for a bit. But, I was wrong. I didn't think the
white-on-blue theme would be a hit; lack of customization
surprised me 'cause at the time, heavy customization was a big
deal in social media of the time. But, they were right... and
persistent... mostly persistent. = I'm surprised Facebook's been
here this long smile emoticon They hit on something I hadn't
seen since.. ahem... AOL days: making a service for _regular_
people. Brilliant move on their part. == Prodigy for a few
months. THAT means you'll remember my #1 service: PC-Link. That
was my main service. Hooked on it. 1989 I got on, along with
local BBS' and stuff. Tried Compuserve but too expensive.
Prodigy - wow, haven't heard that in a LONG time. == Oh! I still
have an external zip drive hanging around. That was THE ANSWER
to 3.5" floppy mass storage for a bit for me. But as the
parallel ports started vanishing from the computers, I
transferred it all to one computer, then the next, then the next
'til I had a 2 TB external and now they feel safe again. I never
felt safe keeping stuff on a computer that's in daily use. Man
you had dedicated dialup. I'm jealous. I always had ppl mad at
me for taking up the phoneline. I *did* get my own number for a
bit to run various BBS' in the 90s, one of them a Waffle so I
could do real Usenet newsgroups and email. That was fun stuff.
Internet's way better now though. I'll take broadband _any_ day.
== I love today. I got my brother to understand the awesomeness
of nerd-dom when he got his first decent smartphone and I stuck
the Dish thing on it for him a few years back. Now he's got his
own Facebook group, watches youtube while he drives, got himself
his own wifi booster for his truck - all by himself. I knew he
was a closet nerd but was hiding it all these years. [he likes
projecting redneck image] I cant wait to see what's coming next.
Tech always seems too slow for me honestly. I got hooked on
Minecraft in 2012, ran a big server for a few years, loved how
the people would get together and build stuff on a virtual world
hiding on my cheap laptop. So much potential yet to come. == Now
you went ahead and inspired me. I'm fascinated by efforts to
archive the ancient online world and I'm researching to see if
anybody managed to get Prodigy archived somewhere, somehow. I'm
reading the journey of a guy who was working on it: can't wait
to see if he succeeded. == me too. That's me at 11, 1983. Tandy
Color Computer 2. Oddly enough, as I always enjoyed new tech, I
developed an interest in past tech as well - typewriters,
cryptography, alt interfaces, ergonomics (human/machine
interfaces) and stuff.... never gets dull man. And a commie? I
never had much of a chance to work with them, but I always
wanted to. Their Q-Link service was fascinating to me in the
80s, and when I got my first real computer (Tandy 1000 TL, 286),
first thing I begged for is a modem. I wanted what they had. ===
I have an IBM selectric with a malfunctioning keyboard cable
sitting in a closet. I loved the typing speeds on it (when it
worked). I type 110 wpm regularly but one thing I missed from
typewriters was that feeling that you're DOING something as you
type. Loud. But nobody else likes it, so silent typing it is
tongue emoticon Yeah that'd be the TI-99 probably - it had the
cartrige that slid sideways into it I think. == That ball man...
I know - it was just the most awesome thing. he thing would just
spin back and forth as you typed, and it didn't care HOW fast
you typed, it could keep up with 2x the speed. Quality stuff. ==
