It's for porn, you know.

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1622180]

Comments

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Though I was doing remote computing using an acoustic coupler by 1979 for connecting to Dec 11/70 and for BBSing, probably Fidonet etc.

[andrewducker]

First BBS I was on was Monochrome, operating out of City University. I was connected to that over the internet though.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Depends what you mean by the internet.

I was downloading software via JANET around 1988.

[andrewducker]

Looks like JANET moved to IP starting in 1991. Dunno about its connections to the rest of the internet before that point.

[dougs.livejournal.com]

We were using IP in 1984/85/86, certainly for connections between Warwick, Cambridge and Edinburgh.

[davidcook.livejournal.com]

My first use of directly IP-reachable portions of the Internet was in 1990ish, maybe late 89, think I found Usenet in late 88 or early 89. And if I recall correctly, I could e-mail outside of uni in 88, but required UUCP addressing (or some hybrid UUCP/@-addressing ... memory is a bit fuzzy on it now :) )

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

My first encounter with the Internet proper was through University, I think in 1990, but I'd been doing occasional BBSing long before that. (Got started with a 300 baud modem for the family's Commodore 64c.)

-- Steve has somewhat-fond rememberances of watching in awe as text download slowly enough to note the arrival of each new character; it was like watching a teletype in action, but in your home!

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

though I'd have been on in 1980 if my parents would have let me have an acoustic modem

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

I actually have no real clue how to answer 'when were you on the internet by', and going for 1992 was a bit of a compromise. I was born in 1989, and if we didn't already have an internet connection at home then (which I think we did, actually) we got one in short order after that.

I could type before I could write, and I built my first website in HTML when I was seven.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Show off.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

For UK-in-1980 values of "internet": ie connected to JANET and able to send/receive email from other folk in the uk.ac.* community.

I think, based on names I recognise or notice as missing, that this list is from 1981....

[kmusser]

My first use of BBS I believe was 1990, first use of Usenet I think was 1991.

[kvlt-kitty.livejournal.com]

I still remember the first website I ever visited - it was the Beanie Babies website when I was 10 :).

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Fascinating distribution there. Looks a lot like the peak was in the September That Never Ended (1993).

*looks again* Duh, the poll gives mean and median as 1993.2 and 1994 (also the mode) respectively.

[nmg.livejournal.com]

I feel fortunate to have been online before the Eternal September.

Hell, I feel fortunate to be able to remember when Usenet was still useful.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've already done this quiz?

[andrewducker]

They do tend to come around every couple of years :->

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

And you found a question where NO-ONE complained about how binary it is :)

[andrewducker]

Everyone loves the internet!

[soon_lee]

1991 for me when I was at Uni...

[matgb]

I first used the net at a friends, I think it was AOL, and he used it to spam a Magic chatroom because he's that sort of bloke.

I first had access in my own right in 1998 when I started my Access course, and became an addict in 1999 when I started at Exeter and had access to 24 hour computer rooms.

[lizzie-and-ari.livejournal.com]

Do you mean first used the internet or had home internet by the 2nd question? (or were literally on the internet ie could be googled?)

[andrewducker]

First used the internet.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Nerds.

[andrewducker]

Aieee! Get them away from me!