Posts

Showing posts with the label World Wide Web

Electronic Newspapers Circa 1981 -- Two Hours to Download

Image
So you think your internet connection is too slow... Go back to 1981, and you will see how far we have come since then. While the “internet” has existed since 1969, it really didn’t trickle down to the masses until the first browser Mosaic was released 12 years later in 1993, introducing “The World Wide Web.” Even then, it took a few years for users to update their computers and increase memory to accommodate the memory-hog browsers. I believe we acquired our first internet-ready computer in 1996-1998. Funny. I can’t remember exactly when – it all seems so organic now. I remember the antiquated dial-up system when I worked in the tech department of a college library; the tech department was responsible for doing data base searches for profs. You actually placed the phone receiver on the modem, which then connected you to a data base ( LexisNexis , etc.). Once you had your info, you would print it out on fan-fold paper with sprocket holes and send off to the packet to the pr...

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment