Internet, now 20 years in Australia

Then try to insult me.

Indeed. I was an avid BBS user from the early 80's, & the first I heard of Usenet was when newsgroups were gatewayed into BBS Echo groups (via UUCP, IIRC) - long before public Internet access arrived in '95.

I was working for Telstra when it was first launched. Back then it was called the Information Super highway.

Like I said above about nerdy geeks.

You too can apply for a spot on "Beauty and the Geek" then, but I wouldn't expect too much with that attitude :-)

MrT.

Mate, I'm crushed. ;^)

Yeah I have to admit I wasn't sure if that was an insult or a compliment.

There are lots of us who'd be perfectly happy for Usenet access to go back to being "nerdy geeks" only.

Boards.http://www.dontronics-shop.com/sparkfun-electronics.html

Wow, you're bringing back some memories there!! I got my C64 around 83/84 and a mate and myself, along with the C64 Programmers Reference Guide managed to adapt his home brew 300baud modem to it.. My first ever dial up was to Chisolm Institute (long before it became Monash Uni) using my friends account, it was a revelation. From there I found a couple of melbourne bulletin board systems with like minded individuals and from then on I was hooked on digital communications, local and long, especially long distance ( some people here may know what i'm talking about) :) I remember bulletin board names like... Ultimate 64, Sunshine RBBS and Melbourne Tardis RCPM, heh, i feel so old :)

mike

I agree, the statement that "Real internet didn't start until HTML code came along." is wrong. Long before HTTP/HTML many of us were quite happy logging in to our unix shell accounts to regularly exchange files and data via ftp, remotely login to computers in other continents using telnet and send/receive emails using unix mail. And long before IM clients we were messenging each other using the talk/write commands.

As a teenager of the 80s who grew up with modems and digital communications and the exploration culture that it brought with it, HTML/HTTP were just another evolution of something we had been using and watching grow for some time.

So, Davo, while for you the "real internet" didn't start until HTML came along for some of us it started much much earlier!!

Mike

That's not true. Prior to HTML the internet was extreemly useful to those in research and development, military, educational institutions and other technical areas. And although you might not think it was easy to use none of us had trouble grasping the concepts required.

HTML certainly allowed the average person easier access to information, a bonus when the internet was commercialised , and it is a great way to order and structure documents, however it is not the be all and end all of the internet.

mike

Long before it became "Chisholm Institute" then. It was "Caulfield Institute of Technology" back then.

MrT.

Thanks for the correction.. My memory isn't what it used to be, getting old I guess :)

mike