The internet of long ago

There was an article in the newspapers today on the launch of Singapore's next speed upgrade of its broadband network next year. It made me think random thoughts bout the internet of the past.

I think the popularisation of the internet started when I was in primary school. At that time, the web browser I used was 'netscape'. In retrospect, it was so slow that everytime I loaded a page, I would go practise the piano before I went back to the computer to surf the internet. Sometimes, even after playing one whole song, the page had not finish loading! Of course, it seemed fast at that time as there was no other internet speed of the future to compare to.

At that time, broadband has not been invented and all of us used dial-up internet access which was internet access through telephone lines. At 10 years old, I thought that 30minutes online was super long already and super expensive too.

At 10 years old, we didn't have handphones unlike the kids of the present age. So i had to use the fixed telephone line to call my friends through the real telephone. If my friend's home didn't have a separate telephone line for the internet, all I could heard was internet static over the line which indicated that the line was engaged as someone was using the internet. Then, I would put down the phone and wait for a while before calling again, hoping that person has finished using the internet so that my call can get through and I can happily talk to my friend about all the worries a 10 year old can have.

I kinda miss those times, those technologically less advanced ages. Calling a friend beats talking to a friend on msn anytime. Unfortunately, the norm now is virtual conversations via msn which has its benefits but just well, not the same anymore.