The time between when the Internet got popular and smartphones became common

[Brian556]

Why are kids so hateful towards each other?

Chances are, it's because they learn that behavior and attitude from their parents.

Parents often say hateful things about other people in front of their kids, which teaches the kids that it is okay.

[bugo]

I still prefer to do the vast majority of my internet browsing and email from my pc.

I agree. I have fat fingers and it's hard to type on tiny keyboards.

The reason I only use the iphone to access the info that I really need when away from home is that the iphone is really inconvenient to use compared to a PC. Also, there is no reason to pay for a huge data plan just to access info that can wait until I get home.

I think it is ridiculous that people try to do so much on a tiny phone. Watching a baseball game on a phone at work? Really?

When you don't have access to a large screen television set, the cell phone comes in really handy.

Also, I don't like laptops. The keyboard is unconformable and awkward to use. And don't get me started on those shitty trackpads.

Buy an external USB keyboard and mouse. Problem solved.

[bugo]

I was bullied relentlessly from 1st grade (I skipped kindergarten because I was so far ahead of the other students) to 12th grade so now anytime I think that somebody is bullying me or disrespecting me in the least, I get very defensive and I don't tolerate it. I have PTSD because of the bullying that I went through,That's why I stand up to certain moderators when I feel they overstep the boundaries. Now nobody gives me shit in real life because I'm 6'4" and weigh 240 lbs and have a shaved head. I've been told that I'm intimidating many times. I know nobody on this board would treat me in real life like they treat me here, not because they're afraid that I'll beat them up even though I'm a pacifist and don't get into fights unless I'm defending myself or my friends and family. They think they're badasses behind their computer screen but they change their tune when they meet me in person. That's the reason I act like an asshole sometimes. I get irate when somebody gets put in a position that they don't deserve when I am denied the same position.

[mgk920]

This thread is making me remember how on the Dukes of Hazzard (the real TV show, not the more recent movie with the wrong actors), the federal agents always had "car phones" that were very obviously just part of a conventional Ma Bell—issued home phone.

(Some of you kids won't remember that until the 1980s, you did not own the phones in your house, you rented them from the phone company.)

Watch Banacek sometime.  The lead, played by George Peppard has a radio telephone in his limo.  That's from 1972.

The old pre-cellular high-powered mobile radio-telephones.  Batman had one in the Batmobile in the mid-late 1960s.

I do recall a cover article in an early-1970s issue of Popular Science where they discussed the then newly proposed cellular telephone concept.

This does kind of 'date' me, but when I was very young (I barely recall Star Trek in its original run) thinking about the gizmos that they were using and that many are now in use.  One thing that I sometimes thought would be the ultimate thing to have at the time was a hand-held gizmo, a little smaller than a TV tray (remember those?), that showed a weather radar readout.  This was at a time when the most complex electronic anything that might be found in the average house was a vacuum tube powered, point-to-point wired analog color TV set.  THOSE THINGS WERE COMPLEX!  30-35 tubes and an ultimate rats' nest of wiring and components under the chassis.  To this day I sometimes wonder how they were made to actually work.  Anyways, I'd then start thinking about how I'd achieve such a kewl gizmo, giving up after about 20-30 seconds and going on to other things.

WE NOW HAVE THAT!!!!

(Still though, it hasn't justified my laying out the extra monthly cash for a cell-phone data plan, but we do have that technology and the iPad Mini is the exact size of the gizmo that I was thinking about back then.)

Also, one thing that I do miss from the late 1990s and early 2000s are the old IRC chatrooms - I am extremely shy (heavy social anxiety and some level of high-functioning autistic) and it is very difficult, pretty much impossible, for me to get to know people when first greetings are 'in person' as well as in group situations and to date my closest approaches to relational success were in them.

I also still happily use a desktop machine (Apple Intel Mac Mini) with a Hewlet-Packard vs15 flatscreen monitor and an old DSL connection (may be upgraded in the foreseeable future).  I also still have my 1998 model Apple G3 Power-PC that still has uses left in it.



Mike

[geocachingpirate]

I am 18 and have never owned a cell phone.   

[bugo]

I was 33 when I got my first phone and 40 when I got my first smartphone.

[noelbotevera]

This thread is making me remember how on the Dukes of Hazzard (the real TV show, not the more recent movie with the wrong actors), the federal agents always had "car phones" that were very obviously just part of a conventional Ma Bell—issued home phone.

(Some of you kids won't remember that until the 1980s, you did not own the phones in your house, you rented them from the phone company.)

Watch Banacek sometime.  The lead, played by George Peppard has a radio telephone in his limo.  That's from 1972.

The old pre-cellular high-powered mobile radio-telephones.  Batman had one in the Batmobile in the mid-late 1960s.

I do recall a cover article in an early-1970s issue of Popular Science where they discussed the then newly proposed cellular telephone concept.

This does kind of 'date' me, but when I was very young (I barely recall Star Trek in its original run) thinking about the gizmos that they were using and that many are now in use.  One thing that I sometimes thought would be the ultimate thing to have at the time was a hand-held gizmo, a little smaller than a TV tray (remember those?), that showed a weather radar readout.  This was at a time when the most complex electronic anything that might be found in the average house was a vacuum tube powered, point-to-point wired analog color TV set.  THOSE THINGS WERE COMPLEX!  30-35 tubes and an ultimate rats' nest of wiring and components under the chassis.  To this day I sometimes wonder how they were made to actually work.  Anyways, I'd then start thinking about how I'd achieve such a kewl gizmo, giving up after about 20-30 seconds and going on to other things.

WE NOW HAVE THAT!!!!

(Still though, it hasn't justified my laying out the extra monthly cash for a cell-phone data plan, but we do have that technology and the iPad Mini is the exact size of the gizmo that I was thinking about back then.)

Also, one thing that I do miss from the late 1990s and early 2000s are the old IRC chatrooms - I am extremely shy (heavy social anxiety and some level of high-functioning autistic) and it is very difficult, pretty much impossible, for me to get to know people when first greetings are 'in person' as well as in group situations and to date my closest approaches to relational success were in them.

I also still happily use a desktop machine (Apple Intel Mac Mini) with a Hewlet-Packard vs15 flatscreen monitor and an old DSL connection (may be upgraded in the foreseeable future).  I also still have my 1998 model Apple G3 Power-PC that still has uses left in it.



Mike

Never saw the mobile radio telephones in the Batmobile when I watched a mid '60s series (1966-1967).

I grew up without social media due to my family restarting their lives in the U.S. (the last times they lived there were late 80s to early-mid 90s) and thus, grew up as a loser, a moody person, and a lonely one. Even up to now, I'm still a loser. But still, living without social media for about 7 or so years has basically...well it's done some good stuff.

One thing I miss from the mid 2000's were the upgraded computers from the early 80s-90s (box computers as I call them). They could run a ton faster (now remember, this was before 2011 when computers got a massive upgrade), play some cool new games, and overall were just simply better.

I have never owned a cell phone (and it's good I don't own one yet).

[bugo]

I grew up without social media due to my family restarting their lives in the U.S. (the last times they lived there were late 80s to early-mid 90s) and thus, grew up as a loser, a moody person, and a lonely one. Even up to now, I'm still a loser. But still, living without social media for about 7 or so years has basically...well it's done some good stuff.

Stop it. Now. You're not a loser. If you believe you are a loser, then you will lose. If you believe you have a chance to succeed then your chances are much better. I've had self esteem issues my entire life and it took me until I was almost 40 before I became more outgoing and I'm still pretty shy and awkward in some social situations. I'm very moody (you can tell by reading some of my posts) and I like to be by myself much of the time but I do feel lonely a lot. Quit beating yourself up.

[noelbotevera]

I grew up without social media due to my family restarting their lives in the U.S. (the last times they lived there were late 80s to early-mid 90s) and thus, grew up as a loser, a moody person, and a lonely one. Even up to now, I'm still a loser. But still, living without social media for about 7 or so years has basically...well it's done some good stuff.

Stop it. Now. You're not a loser. If you believe you are a loser, then you will lose. If you believe you have a chance to succeed then your chances are much better. I've had self esteem issues my entire life and it took me until I was almost 40 before I became more outgoing and I'm still pretty shy and awkward in some social situations. I'm very moody (you can tell by reading some of my posts) and I like to be by myself much of the time but I do feel lonely a lot. Quit beating yourself up.

No, I still believe in myself in trying to win, but fail about half the time, or my luck decides to slap me around for a bit. The latter is more true, but the former is also true to a lesser extent. It's side effects to being lonely, I beat myself up. This isn't anything new, it's just my past catching up to me (seriously, I am pretty lonely in real life).

On topic, another thing I missed from the mid 2000s is...well nothing else I can think of.

[Zeffy]

I grew up without social media due to my family restarting their lives in the U.S. (the last times they lived there were late 80s to early-mid 90s) and thus, grew up as a loser, a moody person, and a lonely one. Even up to now, I'm still a loser. But still, living without social media for about 7 or so years has basically...well it's done some good stuff.

As a kid, I wasn't allowed to really go outside thanks to my overprotective mother. As such, I stayed indoors all day watching TV or playing video games. This in turn allowed me to live without needing much social contact, and to this day I have become one of the most anti-social people you will ever find. It also has turned into a moderate awkwardness when I am at social events (such as family events), and a lot of the time I'll be away from everyone else, just trapped in my own world. If that makes me a loser, I guess I am one. But you aren't one, and don't think you are. You're still young enough to experience a lot of things I never did, and even if you don't want to, that's fine. Whenever someone called me something I didn't like, I ignored them. That philosophy was how I made it through high school without much bullying. And believe me, I was weak in school, if not the weakest in my grade, and even as a 21-year old, I am still considerably weak. But when people talked to me, they found I was enjoyable, despite being the secluded person I oft appear as.

More on topic, I've been on the Internet since 1999, and I remember the old HTML webpages that took a lot of work to look good. I remember building some of my own sites when I was as young as 11, and that may be what inspired me to take on web design courses as an adult. One thing I dislike about this smartphone era is how EVERYTHING looks the same - minimalist design seems to be the norm nowadays. 

[Highway63]

(Some of you kids won't remember that until the 1980s, you did not own the phones in your house, you rented them from the phone company.)

And now we don't own the cable modems and digital TV converters, we rent them from our ISP/cable provider.

[SignGeek101]

I grew up without social media due to my family restarting their lives in the U.S. (the last times they lived there were late 80s to early-mid 90s) and thus, grew up as a loser, a moody person, and a lonely one. Even up to now, I'm still a loser. But still, living without social media for about 7 or so years has basically...well it's done some good stuff.

As a kid, I wasn't allowed to really go outside thanks to my overprotective mother. As such, I stayed indoors all day watching TV or playing video games. This in turn allowed me to live without needing much social contact, and to this day I have become one of the most anti-social people you will ever find. It also has turned into a moderate awkwardness when I am at social events (such as family events), and a lot of the time I'll be away from everyone else, just trapped in my own world. If that makes me a loser, I guess I am one.

Very similar to me. I was (and still am) quite antisocial. I'll just stay up in my bedroom and go on the computer all day. Public events aren't that easy for me to attend, I don't really talk to people easily (only once I get to know them).

Anyway, I remember the days of Netscape and AskJeeves. I was so relieved when we ditched dial up in 2003/4. I don't remember computers until at least 2002. One of my first memories of a computer is the one time when I came home from school (I was 6) and my brother was playing Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed on my dad's work laptop. We didn't own a computer until 2004.

Smartphones are just "clunky" in my mind. You have to zoom into a tiny webpage that is slow to load. The links on the page are super small, and you can end up clicking the wrong one (at least I have). The battery on your phone doesn't last long and typing (and spellcheck) is pretty bad at times. I think Blackberry would have been better, but they're going bankrupt soon (maybe).

[Rothman]

(Some of you kids won't remember that until the 1980s, you did not own the phones in your house, you rented them from the phone company.)

And now we don't own the cable modems and digital TV converters, we rent them from our ISP/cable provider.

Gah.  Don't do that.  Buy your own router, at least, and stop renting your box to save lots of money.

[nexus73]

Ah, the March Of Time!  I find this thread to be an interesting read.  Communications and transportation were what caught my eye from the earliest years of my life.  They were a real miracle compared to what had gone on for most of human history.  Imagine being in a powered vehicle with a radio that could keep you up to date on local goings on while entertaining you and at night being able to listen to stations from 500 to 1000 miles away!

From there to now, wow, what a journey and to think of all that will be coming along including the Law Of Unintended Consequences, some positive and some negative.  Go back to the first decade of the 20th century, when a new technology called the automobile was just coming around but had not hit the mass market, radio and heavier than air flight were invented, iron hull ships were recent innovations, transcontinental railways only existed in the USA and the Panama Canal was under construction.  We can read books about those halcyon days and see the parallel in today's advances.  Those stories will repeat in the centuries to come.

Enjoy the ride!

Rick

P.S.  This is my 666th post.  Helluva deal...LOL!

[Brian556]

Quote from Zeffy:

As a kid, I wasn't allowed to really go outside thanks to my overprotective mother. As such, I stayed indoors all day watching TV or playing video games. This in turn allowed me to live without needing much social contact, and to this day I have become one of the most anti-social people you will ever find. It also has turned into a moderate awkwardness when I am at social events (such as family events), and a lot of the time I'll be away from everyone else, just trapped in my own world. If that makes me a loser, I guess I am one. But you aren't one, and don't think you are. You're still young enough to experience a lot of things I never did, and even if you don't want to, that's fine. Whenever someone called me something I didn't like, I ignored them. That philosophy was how I made it through high school without much bullying. And believe me, I was weak in school, if not the weakest in my grade, and even as a 21-year old, I am still considerably weak. But when people talked to me, they found I was enjoyable, despite being the secluded person I oft appear as.

More on topic, I've been on the Internet since 1999, and I remember the old HTML webpages that took a lot of work to look good. I remember building some of my own sites when I was as young as 11, and that may be what inspired me to take on web design courses as an adult. One thing I dislike about this smartphone era is how EVERYTHING looks the same - minimalist design seems to be the norm nowadays.

The overprotective mother comment made me think of Freddy's mom on iCarly. I you have not watched that show, you should. You will probably we able to relate to Freddy's character.

Also, this is why boys need their father. Women often screw up boys like this. A father is needed to bring some common since to the situation.
My mother was like this. Threw a fit when my father got me my first swiss army knife.

It seems like a lot of women want to act like they have a 10-inch dick swinging between their legs, and they want to beat down the males of the species.

[Zeffy]

The overprotective mother comment made me think of Freddy's mom on iCarly. I you have not watched that show, you should. You will probably we able to relate to Freddy's character.

Also, this is why boys need their father. Women often screw up boys like this. A father is needed to bring some common since to the situation.
My mother was like this. Threw a fit when my father got me my first swiss army knife.

It seems like a lot of women want to act like they have a 10-inch dick swinging between their legs, and they want to beat down the males of the species.

I love(d) iCarly, so yeah, I know all about Freddy and his mother. Kind of odd I never saw the similarity... maybe I was just oblivious to what was happening when I was younger. If I asked to go outside, I was told I couldn't go far. By far - I mean out of my parking lot. WTF? I could only walk to school because there was no bus to take me to it since I lived less than a mile. Since my parents separated, my dad even told me he wishes he would've stepped in and told my mom to fuck off - but he didn't want me to incur the wrath of my mother's fury. Even my mother admitted that she made a mistake when I was younger - which depressed me more, but I already knew it at this point. Oh well. I'm trying to change, but honestly I don't think I can. I can only hope that I can secure a job whom I have an interview with to help me along. Even then, being asexual pretty much is a relationship breaker, and I don't really relate to people when I talk to them, plus I HATE parties and other things like that, so I probably won't change, which I'm fine with.

[Brian556]

Quote from Zeffy:

I love(d) iCarly, so yeah, I know all about Freddy and his mother. Kind of odd I never saw the similarity... maybe I was just oblivious to what was happening when I was younger. If I asked to go outside, I was told I couldn't go far. By far - I mean out of my parking lot. WTF? I could only walk to school because there was no bus to take me to it since I lived less than a mile. Since my parents separated, my dad even told me he wishes he would've stepped in and told my mom to fuck off - but he didn't want me to incur the wrath of my mother's fury. Even my mother admitted that she made a mistake when I was younger - which depressed me more, but I already knew it at this point. Oh well. I'm trying to change, but honestly I don't think I can. I can only hope that I can secure a job whom I have an interview with to help me along. Even then, being asexual pretty much is a relationship breaker, and I don't really relate to people when I talk to them, plus I HATE parties and other things like that, so I probably won't change, which I'm fine with.

It is possible to change. I have. A lot. You just have to want to change enough to be motivated to make it happen.

Getting a job at at TxDOT helped me to become stronger, and a harder worker, and to tolerate unpleasant situations
.
Also, I made it a point to make sure I didn't let my mom turn me into a pussy. I naturally liked tools, and fixing and improving things, so I found a ways to learn how to do a lot of that.

When I realized that I wanted and needed to learn more about computers, and make more money, and work inside with more educated people, I went back to college and got an IT degree at age 35. When I was 20, I was too lazy and undisciplined to go to school.

At the same time, I made a effort to improve my diet. I seriously cut back on fast food. This significantly reduced the frequency of my diarrhea and gas.
When I was 20, I could not make it through a class without passing gas several times. When I worked at TxDOT, a coworker counted 45 farts from me in one shift.

The one thing that I missed out on learning is how to get a girl. Too bad they don't have a class for that. I'm 35, and never had a girlfriend. Talk about being behind your peers.

I have made an effort to change the things that I wanted to change, and there was a way that I knew of to change.

I have come to realize that I have more in common with the general population than I first thought.

[kkt]

And now we don't own the cable modems and digital TV converters, we rent them from our ISP/cable provider.

Well, I have a DSL modem that I bought for myself, and no TV, just DVD/Blu Ray player.

[bugo]

At the same time, I made a effort to improve my diet. I seriously cut back on fast food. This significantly reduced the frequency of my diarrhea and gas.
When I was 20, I could not make it through a class without passing gas several times. When I worked at TxDOT, a coworker counted 45 farts from me in one shift.

This is a personal question and you don't have to answer it if you don't feel comfortable talking about it. You talk about farting (bunking is what the cool kids call passing gas) an awfully lot. Is this something that can't be controlled or are you doing it on purpose because you don't want to hold your bunks in?

The one thing that I missed out on learning is how to get a girl. Too bad they don't have a class for that. I'm 35, and never had a girlfriend. Talk about being behind your peers.

Don't give up. I didn't think anyone would ever come along for me, and even though they're all gone now I know that I am capable of being in a relationship. If I can get girls, anybody can. Trust me on that one.

[Rothman]

Don't give up. I didn't think anyone would ever come along for me, and even though they're all gone now I know that I am capable of being in a relationship. If I can get girls, anybody can. Trust me on that one.

This has to be true of a lot of us.

[Zeffy]

Don't give up. I didn't think anyone would ever come along for me, and even though they're all gone now I know that I am capable of being in a relationship. If I can get girls, anybody can. Trust me on that one.

This has to be true of a lot of us.

It's extremely hard to even conversate with someone of the opposite sex (in a 'relationship') when you physically aren't attracted to them. I've basically come to grips with the fact that I may be alone for the rest of my life. Who's going to want to live with someone who can't even show affection because their mind is fucked? Oh well. I'm not worried.

[noelbotevera]

Jumping back to something not my time, there is a late 90s phone that my dad used to have. It was one of those old Nokias (and those are practically brick phones). It had some basic tools (calculator, stopwatch, etc.) but not like early 2000s phones with physical keyboards.

[jeffandnicole]

Don't give up. I didn't think anyone would ever come along for me, and even though they're all gone now I know that I am capable of being in a relationship. If I can get girls, anybody can. Trust me on that one.

This has to be true of a lot of us.

I really only dated 3 girls before I met who eventually became my wife, and that's probably an exaggeration (I can't really call one of those relationships 'dating').  And even then, I dated her for 3 years and we were engaged for 2.5 years.  Got married when I was 25; she was 21.  We'll be celebrating our 15th anniversary this week.  Haven't killed each other yet!

If I went back to high school and one of the options for the yearbook was "Guy who will never date anyone and never be married", I would've been chosen for that.  So, yes, it can truly happen to anyone.  Never push yourself.  It just happens.

[berberry]

I bought my first PC in 1988; a 386DX-33 with 4MB of RAM and about 100MB of disc space. It was very expensive, but I never regretted it. My first modem was a 1200 bps, but I quickly upgraded to 2400. Almost as soon as I bought the PC I joined Compu$erve. That 2400 bps got old quickly and I remember paying about $400 for a 9600 bps.

I've used every version of Windows all the way back to 1.0, but the first version I had on my own PC was Windows/386 (I think the version number was 2.1). I didn't use it much at all until 3.0 came out, at which point I fell in love with Klondike Solitaire. Then 3.1, then Windows for Workgroups 3.11. I worked in an office during that time, and on Friday afternoons we actually used the network version of 'Hearts'. I miss that

MS-Dos was the real OS, and I remember spending countless hours tweaking the memory settings to get the best performance I could possibly get out of it. Some games, like Quake, would respond very well to even a few extra bytes squeezed out of the lower RAM space, below 640k. Anybody remember HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE?

Since the internet wasn't public, it you wanted to have fun online you paid the fees to join CompuServe. You'd use automated programs like TapCIS to log on for you, download new messages and descriptions of new available downloads in all your favorite forums and libraries, then log off as quickly as possible. You'd then browse through the forums offline, read message threads, respond wherever you wish, browse the libraries and select any new files you'd like to download, then run TapCIS (or other, similar programs) to log back on, post your responses, download any files you want, then log off again as quickly as possible. Speed was important, because connection fees were high, about $12 an hour at 2400 bps or $22 per hour for 9600 bps. In order to realize anything close to 9600, I'd have to connect long-distance through Atlanta or Columbus, as Jackson's node's maxed out at 2400. With a program like TapCIS, it was worth it to pay the long-distance fees.

I got my first cell phone, a bag phone that was pretty much just for my truck, in the early 90s, at about the same time Compu$erve began dropping their access rates dramatically, as the internet went public. By then, 9600 bps was quite slow, and I remember upgrading to a 56k for a year or so before DSL became available.

[6a]

In 50-100 years will anybody realize that there was a gap between the time that the internet became mainstream and the time that smartphones became common or will they believe them to have been invented at the same time? Will they be able to fathom that at one time you needed a computer (or Web TV and other methods that are best forgotten) to access the internet and that phones did not have internet capability or will they think the smartphone and the internet were developed at the same time and that phones have always been internet capable? Will they know about dial up? Historians and geeks will know that the gap existed, but what about the average Joe Blow or Soccer Mom? Those of us who lived through that era (which is most of the members of this forum) lived in a very unique time in history.

Thinking back to my first uses of the internet, I had to start up a DOS program called Telex, where you had to input the correct modem settings (stop bit, anyone?) to communicate with the modem, and the outside world. At that point you could fire up gopher or Lynx or whatever you needed to use. My point is, it took some manner of competence to use the internet, and once online, it seemed most people were there to learn something. Whether that something was via discussion on Usenet or IRC or just looking for a paper, there was a purpose to being online.  In addition, as mentioned earlier, there weren't any distractions, spyware, etc. to worry about because everything was text based, so in many ways the entertainment value wasn't quite there in today's standards.

In the time after that and before the smartphone, personal computers obviously became more popular and things like AOL made it easier and more attractive to be online. For better or worse. I remember the change at the time - I'd gotten pissed off in a Usenet debate (say it isn't so) and told someone "when any old fool got the ability to use the Internet, any old fool did." An old timer contacted me privately to ask my permission to use that quote in his signature. That, to me, was the break between old and new.

(Edit: when reading this I wanted to clarify - at the time, there was a considerable perceived difference in style, protocol, and intelligence of the "new people" that discovered Usenet/the internet via AOL and those that were there before.)

So you had today's parents using the internet recreationally as a habit.  They gave birth to kids who grew up both with that and the technology to make it portable.  Growing up with a constant ability to both speak your mind to the entire world and receive feedback from said world just as quickly has a real effect on a person's mindset. To use a current event or two, as a kid something like the recent gay marriage decision would have made the nightly news, where the bulk of America would learn of it for the first time. The Charleston church shooting would probably have been in the newspaper the following morning. Today we learned of these things as they happened, with an innumerable amount of first-hand accounts (again, for better or worse) with video and commentary.  In the case of the gay marriage debate, it's even possible the increased ability to communicate changed the general consensus of the country in a decade, which is remarkable.

So yes, I do think there will be a noticeable break from a historical perspective. It coincides with other things like 24 hour cable news, but even that has been drastically affected by smartphones.