How I started on the Internet

[Bddmed]

Hi all fellow webmasters,

I just want to share with you my experience on my website. It all started back in 1988. Back in 1988? Yes , it was a BBS. People dialed in to get information I knew about. It was not making any money to me anyway. I jumped in making a website pretty late. I never thought needing anything like a "browser" could be of any success. However, several years later, when my son was born, I decided to make a website.

The site was a success instantly, I thought. 80 uniques a day back then seemed like a lot.

I hadn't heard of Adsense back then. Hell, it didn't excist.

The site has run add free for several years. For the last two years I've had adsense (one add per page) on the site and it's bringing in more money I could ever have imagined.

Anyone else care to tell your story?

[edited by: Bddmed at 9:52 pm (utc) on Oct. 24, 2006]

[rbacal]

Anyone else care to tell your story?

No, not really old-timer! I ran a couple BBS's on Commodore-64s and hooked into fidonet, which of course predated public internet access (duh).

Mostly (one was called Compulit) dedicated to promoting computer literacy back in...well...sheesh C-64's, Atari 400's and Apple ][

[Tropical Island]

Anyone else care to tell your story?

I'll contribute.
I've had one site since 1996 and two others since 2000.

I resisted putting on advertising thinking it would "pollute" the sites.

In March 2005 I started putting ads on my non-important pages.

Now I have ads blocks & link units on all pages and completely cover my AdSense spend which was "out of pocket" before this.

Can't imagine life without AdSense now.

[dibbern2]

This brings back memories...

Like in the 80's when I was pitching a client (delphi web) for design and writing for an internet text-based something ("pages" didn't exist in the lexicon).

He asked: "How about putting it in a browser window?"

"What's a browser?" I asked.

[pacweb]

Just curious. You can't live without Ad Sense? Do you pay for advertising your site at all? Or is Ad Senses revenue pure profit?

[Car_Guy]

Dude! A thread about Web sites and AdSense in Foo!

Anybody know any jokes about blond-haired guys who grew up on cattle ranches in Texas?

I met one once. He was blocking ads with little pieces of duct tape.

[Chapman]

Bddmed-

Nice post, well done... old timer! I had no idea that you were a member too!

Chapman

[ann]

in '95 and '96 was writing for anothers website then in '97 I decided to make my own....got it on line in 1997 but didn't go all out with adsense until about a year ago. Missed the big bucks boom. :)

Ann

[grandpa]

I think you might find a rather large group of former FidoNet'ers around here. Remember the excitement of your first 14.4 modem?

[Chapman]

Actually, grandpa, the one I remember best was my 9600 which I paid over $400 for. Early on I had a 300 baud with acoustic coupler. Oh God!

Chapman

[Car_Guy]

My first system was a used Macintosh Plus (a one-meg machine with an outboard 20-meg hard drive) and a Hayes 2,800-baud modem. That system was crude, but with Word 4.0, it was one hell of a typewriter. I used it to write a weekly column for a publisher, and I was able to submit the articles by logging on to their private BBS. It was great to not have to print the articles, mail them, and have someone else retype them.

I ventured onto other bulletin boards, where I wasted many hours downloading software, finding that it didn't work on my system, and deleting it.

In those days, I did my surfing with my ten-foot steerable satellite dish.

[edited by: Car_Guy at 1:29 am (utc) on Oct. 25, 2006]

[BillyS]

I started out with 1,200 baud modem with an account from Rutgers University. I dialed in and used gopher, jughead, veronica and archy to look around. Of course there was not World Wide Web back then - just the Internet.

I can remember trying all the latest ISPs including CompuServe, Prodigy, Delphi and AOL. I joined AOL and read all of Case's emails talking about passing milestone like his first 500,000 customers.

[jetteroheller]

I started autumn 1996. I was a poor inventer and had to decide to spent the money for eating or to start with internet.

It was very expensive at this time in Austria.
About $5 for one hour.

I tried to make as much as possible in a big computer shop where 3 free internet surfing computers had been. I waited often in front of the shop and when the door opened, I run as fast as possible to this computers. I had to be under the first 3!

[pixeltierra]

I started in 1994 in university. A hallmate of mine was downloading naked ladies onto floppies using gopher. He had a stack two feet high!

In 1996 I was preparing to study abroad in France. To my utter amazement I learned that I could get online in Virginia and see pictures of the campus in France and even a map to the cafeteria. I felt like my mind was blown wide open. I was hooked.

In 1997 I had a class in "Hypertext Literature". Whatever that means. It was Run by a hacker English professor who was experimentally using hypertext documents to create a new form of non-linear literature. We had to write some of our own. I guess that's how I got my feet wet.

From late 1997 on I did almost all of my "research papers" as websites. My professors were expecting 20-50 pages of black type on white paper. But they got my "paper" as a url in an email. To their chagrin, they couldn't count the words or the pages, and they had no good way of knowing if they had read the whole thing. I got straight A minuses as they clearly couldn't tell what else to do with me.

I still can't tell what to do with me...

[WolfLover]

My first computer was a Vic 20, then I moved on up to the Commodore 64 when it came out! This was the early 80's. I used to sit for hours typing in the code from computer magazines. This code would be many pages long and like most code, if you had one little typo, your game or little program would not work.

I was fascinated how typing in all that non-sensical code could actually produce a fun game to play! ;) As soon as I'd get bored with one game, I was busy typing in code for a new one!

Then after a few years, I sold my computer as I was not really using it very much. Then every time I saw a tv commercial or read a magazine article, I was constantly seeing website addresses everywhere! www.example.com was what I was hearing every time I turned around. I knew I had to have a computer so I could go to all these websites I kept hearing about!

So, in 1996, we purchased a "custom" made computer, I think it was a 200 megahertz or something like that. It was a good computer for its day. The internet was fascinating. Unfortunately, I used my computer for socializing, chatting, and playing games. Had I had any idea, I would have started my business back then and I'd be rich by now and not having to work so hard and so many hours!

I do still love the internet. I am constantly reading and constantly learning.

Thanks for the cool thread! Brings back memories! ;)

[topr8]

my next door neighbour was a computer freak - i'd never touched one - back in around '94,

my then girlfriend wrote a couple of articles for a then online magazine

but i wasn't that turned on, we were clubbing a lot in those days and a guy called nicholas saunders had a website showing pictures and analysis of various things - it was then that i realised how useful this internet thing was ...

wasn't till 99 that i built my first site though

[ann]

heh, I am still trying to convince certain people how useful and lucrative these things are but they take one look, shudder and walk away shaking their gray heads. :)

(anyway they all think I am a genius!)

Ann

[Tastatura]

My first computer was Sinclair Spectrum ZX-81 with 48k – it’s the one with rubber buttons. Man was I jealous when C-64 came out. Anyone remembers loading programs with tape deck (and tweaking the position of the head). I can still hear distinctive sound of program loading; you could actually tell by the sound if prog will load properly or not. I cut my programming teeth on that thing. Next was Apple Iic …..well then I discovered girls, and computer ‘stuff’ took a back seat for a while. I never paid much attention to ‘websites’ (looked at them as an interesting side effect) as I was using computers for computation purposes. Now I am paying more attention to them :)

[Lipik]

I started 'internetting' in Jan.1997, later I started a website just for fun, becouse I liked to write code. My first surprise came when I checked stats one day and saw I had around 10000 pv's/month! But whatt to do with it? banners brought me nothing. So I kept it improving just for fun. Until 2004 when Adsense became available in my country. That was the second and biggest surprise ever! I gave me more I ever could expect or even dream.

[Chapman]

We think you're a genius too, Ann!

Chapman

[netmeg]

I think you might find a rather large group of former FidoNet'ers around here. Remember the excitement of your first 14.4 modem?

Hey, netmeg was originally a Fido board! I ran it at work on an old IBM AT that I found in the basement - using DOUBLEDOS (oh my age is showing) so I could actually use the computer while the board was running in the other DOS. I believe I put it up in 1985. I was part of the FidoNet, but I was in Ann Arbor and the next closest Fido was in Detroit, so it was alot of big phone bills at the time. 14.4? Oh, we used to dreeeeeam of 14.4. I remember getting my first 2400 baud modem and thinking "this must be what LSD and speed feels like". I still have a box of acoustic couplers in storage.

I been around a looooooooong time. Heck, I grew up selling DEC PDP-8 computers.

[Pengi]

Bddmed: Excellent thread - fully justifies the full member status - congratualtions.

Wish I could add my anecdote about when I started back in the old days - but I didn't even hook up until 2000!

Ann: of course you are a genius - common knowledge

[netmeg]

they take one look, shudder and walk away shaking their gray heads. :)

My mother was like that at first - afraid if she pushed the wrong key, smoke and fire and jello would come pouring out of the computer. Now we've had wireless networking in her house for at least four years now, and she's on the thing all the time checking out her financial statements, emailing people she hasn't seen for 50 years, uploading digital pictures, shopping like a maniac and generally creating mayhem. Can't pry her away from the keyboard.

But nothing makes her happier than the #*$! rated <snip> spam email that she gets. She likes to read it to me at the top of her lungs, when I'm two rooms away.

"Hey! Come look at THIS one!"

(She's 75, by the way)

[edited by: lawman at 12:15 am (utc) on Oct. 26, 2006]

[Bddmed]

Thanks to you all for sharing your story :)

Please don't hesitate to tell yours if you didn't already.

[Chapman]

I started in/on the internet in 1997 but I got started in computers (right after a telecommunications stint in the military) in 1976 by building a Digital Group Inc.^TM (not Digital Equipment) computer. It was, at the time, the only way I could find to learn about computers (as there were no schools or classes) and I knew from the first moment, that they were what I wanted to be part of. As time went on, I became involved with virtually every computer I could get my hands on as a hardware engineer, software developer, application user, or system/network administrator.

The Digital Group Inc.^TM was an early Z-80 based machine that came out around the same time as the Altair and IMSAI sporting 8 kilobytes ($300) of memory (quickly upgraded to 16) with a 64 X 24 character TV video display and an audio cassette player to load software (as soon as some would be written). The entire thing cost about $2200 but it was most valuable investment I ever made!

In 1997 I created a relatively personal website to do pretty much the same thing as before... learn about the internet and web site design. The cost was a fair amount of time, however, still a great investment.

Thanks, Bddmed, I feel better now! Nice thread!

Chapman

[Chapman]

Great story, netmeg!

My mother inlaw is 82 and she sends out so much email that I've considered putting her into my spam filter! ;-)

Chapman

[Essex_boy]

Received a ZX81 for Christmas '81 didnt really use it until 6 months later then a Spectrum came along at Christmas '82.

Upto to that point id never really been overly technical - I was only 11, suddenly decided well howdoes the UDG get from the top of the screen to the bottom?

Hacked a very popular game at the time 'Jet Set willy' to rearrange the rooms (platform game you see) suddenly I knew more than my computer science teacher and those really bright kids in the top sets came asking for my help.

Wrote commercial software in teh late 80's then took an IT course in the early 90's which killed my interest dead.

Didnt buy a PC until 97' and a dial up modem was optional and sat outside the case, got home at 7pm that night and went to bed at 4am without realising what the time was or where it went.

2000 wrote my first website which was also paypal enabled ecomm - ran amazing well top ranked for keywords on MSN (wasnt using G then) so I shut it down as I didnt have the time to run it. Never take off anyway this web thing, just a phase.

[rocknbil]

1995, a co-worker told me it was a great place to meet women.

It only took a month to realize what a stupid idea that was. I began spending my time coding and learning the technology instead of touching souls and getting group hugs from married, alcoholic, dysfunctional chatters who might not have even been women. :-)

First modem was a 9600 baud, I went into giggle-fits when I bought my newfangled 14,400. LOL . . . .

[gregbo]

Actually, grandpa, the one I remember best was my 9600 which I paid over $400 for. Early on I had a 300 baud with acoustic coupler. Oh God!

My first modem was one of those 300 baud acoustic couplers. Among other things, I remember having to grok those Hayes "AT" commands for initializing the modem, dialing the remote system, etc.

[Leosghost]

rectangular holes in blue cartons ..and "do loops" ..

must 've been 1970/71 therabouts ..no innernet then ..sort of felt it might come in handy tho ..