Back in the stone ages... what were your baby thoughs about the internet before you actually got online?

Before I was ever online I thought it was a couple different things. I saw enough movies about hackers to know that the internet was connected to everything and that it was all in green text on a black background, but I also saw movies where the internet was 3d virtual reality complete with those clunky headsets and gloves, and that you had to punch air to open a browser window or something. The first time I got online was from one of those really early web clients, one of AOL's competitors, but I forget which. I remember playing a few MUDs for a bit, then getting bored and firing up the Nintendo (hand-crank and all), especially because it was so expensive and tied up a phone line. Damn, that must have been a while back! Anyway, when I finally started online without a client so I could see the internet more or less raw (or at least rare), I was stunned with the sheer quantity of things to do, but I didn't know what was fun, so I used it mainly to look for cheat codes and enhancements for computer games I already had. Naturally, I was also lured away rather quickly by the dark underbelly of the Web (in those days, still called pr0n for a reason). Fast forward, and I use it to answer questions about the good 'ol days.

Actually, having spent my formative years in the "stone age" of no Internet whatsoever, I learned how to research using books. I learned how to use the library card catalog (actually cards). I learned how to use indexes, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses. These skills let me quickly see what the Internet was good for and where it fell short. With good research skills, you can glean a lot of useful information from the Internet, but you have to be discerning. It's a lot harder to know how reliable is the source. There are also lots of gaps in knowledge -- it's very hit or miss. For current information and events, it beats books, but it doesn't replace them in all things. I check news on the Internet, but I still read two daily newspapers, because the content is deeper. I've never been much into chat, but I've come to enjoy Answers because it gives an opportunity for thoughtful reflection and sharing. I find e-mail extremely useful both professionally and personally. And I love on-line shopping, which was probably one of the first things I did on the Internet. I hate malls!

I first heard of the Internet through Intel when I worked there as a technician. I knew it was going to be big. It was really amazing and fun to chat and find things. The internet then was a lot more underground than it is today. Web pages took a long time to load. I also thought that everyone was going to be on it. It took much longer than I thought for most people to catch on.

My first time in the Web was when I was 5 and I truly thought it was just one more feature of our new computer. I was extremely good using the computer and internet around that age, I used it more to play games.
When I was 6 I learned truly what it was, but I still used it only to play.

well, before I ever tried it, I figured it was for brainier people than myself- what use could I possibly have for that? then , like a fool I had AOL and thought hey, this sux ! then I grew up,and tried better stuff lol.

and, yes, I'm ancient, too

nothing raelly i jus got on

wow ur pretty old if u could remember all that!! i was born by the time the internet was formed