My 12 year internet experience

[ConLog]

I joined the internet revolution in 1997 with AOL, having bought my first Windows PC after years using BB's on my Amiga.

The internet in my opinion over the last 12 years has descended from a place where literally free of charge EVERYTHING was shared, into a place where EVERYONE is after your money and nobody shares anything.

It's went from a fantastic place to be to where nobody wants to go.

Does anyone else agree?

[chuck4456]

I joined the internet revolution in 1997 with AOL, having bought my first Windows PC after years using BB's on my Amiga.

The internet in my opinion over the last 12 years has descended from a place where literally free of charge EVERYTHING was shared, into a place where EVERYONE is after your money and nobody shares anything.

It's went from a fantastic place to be to where nobody wants to go.

Does anyone else agree?

And it's only going to get worse my friend.

[SARGE]

I joined the internet revolution in 1997 with AOL, having bought my first Windows PC after years using BB's on my Amiga.

The internet in my opinion over the last 12 years has descended from a place where literally free of charge EVERYTHING was shared, into a place where EVERYONE is after your money and nobody shares anything.

It's went from a fantastic place to be to where nobody wants to go.

Does anyone else agree?

There is an extreme amount of stuff for free, like a library. I like others have probably saved bookmarks and printed stuff. I know I have. If nobody wants to go there, why does everyone go there????

[ConLog]

There is an extreme amount of stuff for free, like a library. I like others have probably saved bookmarks and printed stuff. I know I have. If nobody wants to go there, why does everyone go there????

So you think it's as good as it was years ago?

Nonsense.

More people over the years have seen the internet as a way to make a quick buck and it's not going to get any better.

I can hardly open my browser nowadays without reading about some new internet scam.:rolleyes:

[pally01]

Does anyone else agree?

I don't agree. I can find pretty much ANYTHING that I look for with relative ease and minimal (if any) expense. Granted, I've only been on-line since '02, but I think it's easier now more than ever to find what I might be looking for at any given moment.

[shadowpr]

I've had internet just about as long, and think it has improved, but at a certain cost.

With more people, there is more information that you can find. The amount of free stuff is constantly increasing.

But just like anything else, the more people, the more opportunity to capitalize on it. It was a natural step.

At the same time, there are worse things out there now, and more garbage, but also, if a little common snse is used, it can mostly be avoided.

To me, the slightly increased amount of spam/advertising that i experience now is worth the amount of information that I can have access to, along with the speed in which i can access it.

[doubledragon5]

I love the internet, just ask the wife, what I do when I frist wake up on the weekend or do when I get home from work.. There is plenty of free stuff on the net, you just have to look a little harder...

[SARGE]

So you think it's as good as it was years ago?

Nonsense.

More people over the years have seen the internet as a way to make a quick buck and it's not going to get any better.

I can hardly open my browser nowadays without reading about some new internet scam.:rolleyes:

Well, I started I believe with a 28.8 modem dial-up (can that be right?) and when 56k came along thought that was the greatest. Those are history now. As with any medium that reaches out to literally millions of folks every minute, there will be advertising, just as in TV or radio. The Internet isn't free. Someone has to pay for the time and yes, some scams get through. All it takes is wisdom to filter it out. I used to watch a show on Saturday mornings when a kid. The sponsor owned a used car lot. The commercials had him jumping up and down on the hood of a car telling you how good it was. We laughed it off but others obviously bought the cars.

Be vigilant yet enjoy the experience of the Net. At least it's not "censored" yet as in some countries.

[HAL9000]

I find the internet boring now... TV is more interesting.... but I do agree.. when I need some info, I can usually find it... with the exception of a few places that want to profit from it and make you pay to get the info which will probably, in the end, be useless.

[Masaki 7-11]

I joined the internet revolution in 1997 with AOL, having bought my first Windows PC after years using BB's on my Amiga.

The internet in my opinion over the last 12 years has descended from a place where literally free of charge EVERYTHING was shared, into a place where EVERYONE is after your money and nobody shares anything.

It's went from a fantastic place to be to where nobody wants to go.

Does anyone else agree?

I think the opposite is happening, I first went on the internet back in 1998; back then there really wasn't too much to do online except mostly look at government sites and check email. Maybe there wasn't anything that was needed to pay for back then, however there wasn't much in general.

A lot of improvements have happened since then, we have a lot of free open source software that actually works very well, we have wikipedia, better email (the first email account I ever had was chock full of spam, now my email accounts get at most one spam email per month), better access to news and video (free) as well as many online games are free.

Back in 1998 there was no education about the types of danger that were online (the internet had spam and scams since it first started; it didn't really get noticed till more people joined though), if you are aware of the dangers of the internet, you can have a great experience; I haven't got malware on my computers in over 1 year.

[jdeb]

I know one thing for sure, I love coming to this site and posting helpful solutions to people with computer or general problems (I hope I do that occasionally). I also know that I gain a lot of insight from this website in terms of previous or current problems that I have encountered.

I do not use the Internet as many other people do, I use it as a library, or learning tool. I have an addiction to learning and I have been blessed with this wonderful global library. Unfortunately we have to learn how to filter out pushy content. It is pretty easy today to do this but there are people and organizations that are trying to push or own what you are seeing in front of you. This is the dangerous area and I am afraid that we are in a pool of new entrepreneurs that have have not only global funding but economic funding as well.

[doubledragon5]

Well, I started I believe with a 28.8 modem dial-up (can that be right?) and when 56k came along thought that was the greatest. Those are history now. As with any medium that reaches out to literally millions of folks every minute, there will be advertising, just as in TV or radio. The Internet isn't free. Someone has to pay for the time and yes, some scams get through. All it takes is wisdom to filter it out. I used to watch a show on Saturday mornings when a kid. The sponsor owned a used car lot. The commercials had him jumping up and down on the hood of a car telling you how good it was. We laughed it off but others obviously bought the cars.

Be vigilant yet enjoy the experience of the Net. At least it's not "censored" yet as in some countries.

Good Ol Texas car dealers for ya.:)

[juppy]

The free stuff is still out there if you just look for it. Antivirus and malware scanners that are as good as the pay type, office programs like Open Office that have features that will rival Microsoft Office, all free, just gotta download 'em. Add in things like streaming video and teleconferencing, and yeah, I'd say it's better than it used to be. Only thing I wish is that the ISPs in this country would try harder to keep up with it. I started on the internet probably, oh I dunno, about 9 or 10 years ago with a 56k modem that ran at 21 to 24k because of a crappy phone line setup. Now.....I'm still using a 56k modem connecting at that same speed, because AT&T and other companies are more interested in making people that already have DSL service even faster, while the rest of us can't even get on the broadband boat so we can enjoy the streaming video and other features like everyone else. THAT is my only gripe about the "internet experience" in this country today.

[mattaggie]

I like you have been on the net since 97 with AOL (remember getting in the mail those CDs for 5 free hours of internet? woo hoo!). I think the internet is way better today. For me, it has replaced TV. I am truly amazed at the amount of information I can access without leaving my home (or having to stand up for that matter). I do think Juppy has a point in the "haves" vs. "have nots" of the internet, whether its due to where one lives or money related. I feel like my computer and internet skills give me a great advantage over someone without them. Is that good for the US in the long run?

[EzyStvy]

Anyone remember buying a Newspaper to read the News? It too became an advertising media and it killed a lot of trees along the way….

[Lespaul20]

Anyone remember buying a Newspaper to read the News? It too became an advertising media and it killed a lot of trees along the way….

Then there are the Newspapers who charge for online content, which I've never seen work.



I disagree with you ConLog. I have had access to the internet for the same amount of time. The use of internet as business market may have grown in the last 15 year but it was still used back then. I remember using ebay and amazon for the first time in 1998, so for profit internet was around then.

I actually think the opposite is true to what you said. There are a lot more high quality open-source/free software out there then there was in 1998. There is a lot more free online content, new, blogs, videos, general resources like here than I remember there being in 1998. And I would trust today's content a little more than 1998's content.

With that said, I'm not really sure what you mean by that nothing is free anymore. If you mean by the amount of advertising and spam then yes there is a lot more, but I'm not paying for that, with money anyway.

[David M]

I have been on the internet for just as long starting with AOL as well.

I have to disagree. The internet is much LARGER now. This means there is more free stuff as well as more stuff for sale. Perhaps the ratio of free stuff to pay for stuff has swung a little towards more pay for stuff, but overall there is more free stuff than back in the nineties.

Just look at all the free computer utilities we have now. Free anti-virus, popup blockers, firewalls, CD burners...there is lots of stuff for free that did not exist over ten years ago. Look at the great browsers we have now - all of which are free. You can even get a free operating system now - Linux. There are free games on the internet as well as free spreadsheets and other office type applications. We also have more free email options than ten years ago. You can even get free data storage online now that was not available ten years ago.

The internet of course is no more safer than it was over ten years ago, but the free options for making it safer have increased.

The fact that commerce has increased over the internet is a good thing for consumers. The internet increases competition amongst vendors keeping prices lower for the consumer. The internet makes it very easy to find the lowest prices on goods and services. Can you imagine how much higher prices would be if the only competition was between brick and mortar stores?

The bottom line is that the logarithmic increase in commerce over the internet has been a good thing for everyone.

[jdeb]

I have been on the internet for just as long starting with AOL as well.

I have to disagree. The internet is much LARGER now. This means there is more free stuff as well as more stuff for sale. Perhaps the ratio of free stuff to pay for stuff has swung a little towards more pay for stuff, but overall there is more free stuff than back in the nineties.

Just look at all the free computer utilities we have now. Free anti-virus, popup blockers, firewalls, CD burners...there is lots of stuff for free that did not exist over ten years ago. Look at the great browsers we have now - all of which are free. You can even get a free operating system now - Linux. There are free games on the internet as well as free spreadsheets and other office type applications. We also have more free email options than ten years ago. You can even get free data storage online now that was not available ten years ago.

The internet of course is no more safer than it was over ten years ago, but the free options for making it safer have increased.

The fact that commerce has increased over the internet is a good thing for consumers. The internet increases competition amongst vendors keeping prices lower for the consumer. The internet makes it very easy to find the lowest prices on goods and services. Can you imagine how much higher prices would be if the only competition was between brick and mortar stores?

very well said:)

[sgtspector]

I have been using the internet since the days of Compuserve. Before that a 300 baud modem on bbses. The amount of information that is available is incredible compared to then. Yes the ads and the constant and sometimes intrusive attempts to get your money are annoying they are the price we pay. The trick is to not get caught up in the distractions.

[juppy]

Then there are the Newspapers who charge for online content, which I've never seen work.Our local newspaper has been running an ad saying that's what they're going to try to do. I guess they're still going to do the paper form of it, but they're trying to expand into doing the online version as well, and have people pay for that also. I figure it's a flop waiting to happen, but we'll see.

[jessho]

The technical side of the internet is like a large growing library. Products, technical information and sources are now available almost instantly, where this information didn't exist even a few years ago. Yes, there's much more for sell, but there's also a lot of free information furnished by people that share their wisdom and experience.

I'd say this site is a shining example of the evolution of the internet. Everything you want, and need, for computers is available. Every budget is considered and promoted. Opinions are expressed. Technical information is availabe. Products are offered and your entire experience, whether for minutes or days, is free except for your cost to be on the internet.

[thefultonhow]

It's went from a fantastic place to be to where nobody wants to go.

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." -- Yogi Berra ;)

[Kevin0ne]

The internet is like a window to the world. So just like when you travel the world you should avoid the tourist traps. I started on local bulletin boards before AOL went "unlimited". I remeber my first online contact with someone onine. I was facinated then and I am still facinated with the technology and the versitility of the internet. So what there are ads , there are ads on the roadsides when I drive to work. Thats just business.
Good content on the internet is were you find it!!