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Using the internet like it's 1999

joshblais.com

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Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#91

Post by vunderba »

d3Xt3r wrote: post #90
vunderba wrote: post #4

If it were 1999, most people would still be browsing the web on their US Robotics 56k modem (at best). This page is about 1 MB of assets (500kb gzip compressed if your browser supported it) , so it would have taken at least a minute just to finish loading.

Luckily, we had web accelerating proxies like OnSpeed[1] back in the day that would compress web pages (including lossy image compression) so if you were one of the poor sods still on dialup (like I was), it was a lot more bearable. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnSpeed

Oh neat, I'd never heard of them. Almost feels like a spiritual predecessor of CDNs, serving optimized assets from existing websites via their servers.

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#92

Post by kombookcha »

cosmicgadget wrote: post #85
pjmorris wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I confess that I had this in mind. Is it time to start running LAN parties again?

Electrical panels and air conditioning have not kept pace with graphics cards.

I hear you. Topless Quake LAN sweatathon, the sport of gentlemen.

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#94

Post by prawn »

Dwedit wrote: post #81

1999 was Dialup for me. The modem said "56k" but didn't actually connect at that speed, it was more like 4.4KB/sec max. The biggest thing I grabbed then was an overnight bulk-downloading session from animewallpapers.com, made possible by using GetRight. It had a download queue, as well as the "GetRight Browser" which presented the links on a html page as files to select, or other html pages as directories to view.

I remember a few years prior to that - I have faint recollections of dialling into BBSes or paying by the hour, so you'd want to plan in advance for what you might do on the internet while connected. A BBS often tracked what you uploaded vs downloaded, so unless you had something to share, you needed to be mindful of what you grabbed.

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#96

Post by prawn »

zahirbmirza wrote: post #5

How can we solve this problem, of the current state of the internet, without reverting to the compromises of the past? This has been on my mind for a while. The layer of trash some companies have built over the internet has been ruinous.

A movement where some sites are only accessible by a specific browser or class of browsers, much more simplified than now? Where a site could put an agreeable browser into a no-JS, lo-fi mode?

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#97

Post by stra1ghtarrow90 »

part of the problem is that most people don't own a pc or personal laptop - they use their phone and apps. None of my friends (35 years +) use laptops other than for work and openly say how much they have regressed technically. Some of these guys grew up with the internet in the early 00's and would be setting up switches for lan partys, using torrents and usenxt, limewire etc. These days they can barely open up microsoft word - but on instagram/twitter they're all over it. Sad really. I would always reach for my laptop first before my phone and I tend to very rarely visit social media sites (other than reddit) on laptop/desktop. I use glance - https://github.com/glanceapp/glance to parse my rss feeds - it's pretty good.

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#99

Post by [deleted] »

stra1ghtarrow90 wrote: post #97

part of the problem is that most people don't own a pc or personal laptop - they use their phone and apps. None of my friends (35 years +) use laptops other than for work and openly say how much they have regressed technically. Some of these guys grew up with the internet in the early 00's and would be setting up switches for lan partys, using torrents and usenxt, limewire etc. These days they can barely open up micr…

[deleted]

Re: Using the internet like it's 1999

#100

Post by jjbinx007 »

stra1ghtarrow90 wrote: post #97

part of the problem is that most people don't own a pc or personal laptop - they use their phone and apps. None of my friends (35 years +) use laptops other than for work and openly say how much they have regressed technically. Some of these guys grew up with the internet in the early 00's and would be setting up switches for lan partys, using torrents and usenxt, limewire etc. These days they can barely open up micr…

I always find it strange when people refer to twitter and YouTube etc as apps rather than websites.
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