When I first signed up on the Internet in the early 90's, I was on a small dialup IP. The first person I made contact with in a kind of chatroom (bulletin board) was from Germany. I was awestruck. Here I was in the US and chatting with someone from Germany.

Now we think little of making contact with people all over the world. How small it has become.

It's kind of like when Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message.



I think I know just how he felt.

How awesome.

I wasn't alive to enjoy this awestrucking (may have just made up a word) experience.

Sounds pretty cool though O Glad we have the connections we do now a days!

I'm still amazed O. I've virtually met people from all parts of this planet and have found that most of us share very similar thought processes if not values. Most folk want to be kind to each other and share their knowledge or enthusiasm for discovering something new and, to them, cool. Gives me some hope that this world has a chance despite the dire situation that many here (here being U.S.) seem to be in right now. My hearts are definitely to those who really are currently experiencing austerity issues (Ireland, Spain, Greece to name just a few) or worse yet, experiencing war directly. I hate war. I was part of one a while back and saw what evil can do (Gulf War, 1990/91) and it took nearly 20 years for the evil one to get his just rewards. We still have evil. Still, I have hope that most are not and that we can maybe all just get along (to quote Rodney King). Anyway, I do really appreciate the folk here at GIMPChat. All parts of the planet come and visit here from time to time which is definitely cool.

I remember going online via telephone line to a BBS (Bulletin Board System, before the age if Internet) and being amazed that I could chat with the owner of the BBS despite him being in a distant part of Sweden. I also remember it being hideously expensive to phone that far ... Our perceptions and expectations sure have changed.
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Griatch

The first internet experience i had was on dial up and i played chess with a girl in Chicago!
That was simply amazing to me then.

My how things have changed in such a short while hey O?

The first person I made contact with was a pen pal from Japan. We stayed in contact for a few months then they stopped writing. Another one was kind of weird but I didn't know at the time. It was supposed to be prison pen pals. I signed up the online form and got permission to take part in the program. I just picked a name from the list at random and sent an email to that name. It turned out to be Aileen Wuornos, needless to say that was my first and last prison pen pal.
But i agree with you completely, very little impresses me but the net does. We have more information available to us at this second than any time in history. I can read a book in a Dublin library and talk with people from almost anywhere in the world. And almost all of this has happened in the last 10 years. I probably won't see another 10 but it would be neat to see how far it will have come by then.

Well thats one scary person!

I started my online experiences using My Amiga, dial up, BBS's, telnet, ftp and mailing lists. It was INSTANTLY more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Joking with a group of people just using words was a weird and new experience. And I love communicating with people all over the world.

yes, the Internet is the greatest tool for democracy ever invented. I have seen it change politics. It helped expand my career, networked me with people I work with but have Never met! (yet). And I can mine it for information - including stuff I would never normally seek. It's remarkable.

First time I was online was in the late 90's. I was taking a class at the local community college on basic computing. I had noticed the little netscape logo up in the right hand corner of my computer screen and clicked on it...and it was a search homepage that came up...so I searched for Koko the Gorilla and voila`, a list of sites about Koko came up. Of course I had to click on them and read them. So Koko was my first ever internet search, lol. Now I am her friend on Facebook, lol. I was hooked on the internet ever since that first click on the netscape logo, and still find it all so amazing. I have met quite a few people in person that I first met on the internet, and all have been great experiences.