During my daily reading of articles on Mashable, I came across this amusing video which brought me back a decade ago as it shows what Facebook and Twitter would have looked like back then. The design of the imaginary 90's version of the websites instantly made me travel back at the time of my first steps on the Internet.
If you were born before 1990, you'll understand what comes next. Who doesn't remember the sound of a 56k modem dialing up? Who never had a profile on the ICQ instant messenger (which I was surprised to discover still exists!) or used Netscape? I remember the arrival of my first computer at home when I was 15, our first Internet provider subscription (3 hours per month only, can you imagine?), my first email adress at caramail.com (one of the first famous web portal in France). I recall the first time I completed a school paper with only online research instead of hours spent in the library... and saved it on a floppy disk! Do you remember the first time you downloaded an mp3 file or just how long it used to take? I do!
I kind of miss the 90's version of Internet. You were feeling like you were part of the pioneers. Now everything moves so fast that you're not yet used to Google+ that everybody is already on Pinterest. Our (whole?) life and work are on the Internet now. Interesting to realize how much has changed in 15 years!
15 years ago my home and school were not equipped with Internet. You would think the whole world now is. But only today we are starting building schools with Internet points in countries like Afghanistan. Afghan kids won't probably remember their first Internet experience the same way I remember mine. But one thing I hope, it's that it will open their mind and change their world as it did for me 15 years ago.
That was the nostalgia post of the week! Now you can go back to checking your Gmail and Facebook profile!
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PS: And you, tell me about your first Internet memories!
