133 mhz Pentium processor and an incredibly massive 1.6 GB hard drive. I was so excited to make the transition from playing Doom on Sega 32X to the real PC version.
MP3s were around, but took ~30 minutes to download a song on my 28.8 kpbs modem.
Trying to figure out the standard specs for a Packard Bell 486 desktop in 1994 because I doubt my parents spent any extra cash on it.
2400 kbps modem.
I remember having to upgrade the RAM just to meet the minimum AOL requirements.
Eventually upgraded to a 9000 Kbps modem that the Boston Edison IT department was going to throw out and gave to my dad instead
my first computer was hand-built by a former co-worker, I got it in 99 I think. My parents were anti-computer, they thought a word processor was good enough. it was decent, though I only used AOL 5.0 and played Rollercoaster Tycoon so who knows.
Trying to figure out the standard specs for a Packard Bell 486 desktop in 1994 because I doubt my parents spent any extra cash on it.
2400 kbps modem.
I remember having to upgrade the RAM just to meet the minimum AOL requirements.
Eventually upgraded to a 9000 Kbps modem that the Boston Edison IT department was going to throw out and gave to my dad instead
I think we had the same computer. LOL. Does anyone remember how easy it was to scam month after month of free AOL service?
My mom was a pro at getting free AOL despite hating the fact that we used it at all and that it would tie up the phone. She'd just call up pretending to cancel and they'd hand her another 3 months free. In retrospect she probably would have done us both a huge favor by just canceling it but I had more fun on BBS's anyways.
had a hand me down hp I believe, first started dubbing around the web in 98 or so, basically just used it to download tabs(which after I actually learned to play, realized most were wrong)
By the time we got the internet, it was a Pentium 2 with an AST computers badge, running Win95. Don't remember any of the other specs but I used to fap longingly at the 3dfx voodoo cards at computer shows, thinking about how much better destruction derby and mechwarrior could have looked.
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 17,2014 1:52pm
Tabs were usually legit and was loaded with some sweet 4 second long wav files for rocking out
post by arilliusbm at Jun 17,2014 3:03pm edited Jun 17,2014 3:07pm
Before the Internet, We had an old Compaq from the early 80s and a typewriter, lasted a long time. The Compaq was the shit.. Monochrome monitor and 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive where I raped such 80s games as ALLEY CAT and DEFENDER OF THE CROWN. But when it came time to get/afford a "modern" computer and eventually access the net, my parents shelled money out on HSN and we got some third party computer brand called Proteva. The early to mid 90s for computers were fascinating, in retrospect. The technology was just getting interesting and the Internet was young. Also, fuck off .midis, we used to track .mod files with SCREAMTRACKER, still use it to this day.
People remember that stuff? Jees idk it was just before my 386. Other than that, who knows. I turned it on. It worked, then it didn't. I had dial up of course but beyond that it was all miracles.
IDK, I guess I only remember because I was a PC Gamer and had to pay attention to the specs. Though it certainly meant a lot less back then than it does now. ]
post by arilliusbm at Jun 17,2014 3:28pm edited Jun 17,2014 3:29pm
Also, most people that are into building computers or upgrading hardware will most likely remember every little spec for their computers. I'm sure Aaron remembers his shit.
post by blaine the train at Jun 17,2014 3:29pm
i had this piece of shit. basically a glorified word processor with no hard drive. at least it was king kong bundy approved.
I first got on the internet around 1990. I don't remember what the specs were but it was one of those little square apple computers. The "internet" was pretty much just text at that point.
I first got on the internet around 1990. I don't remember what the specs were but it was one of those little square apple computers. The "internet" was pretty much just text at that point.
I hear you Jim. Just surprised at the people who weren't into building computers or whatever remember it, that's all.
I still say there are little fairies inside every microchip making them work.
Most interesting stories though are from my parents generation that grew up with only radio.
My Dad's stories about being at school at MIT and "playing" with their computer are funny. Things that filled entire rooms to make simple calculations and had less computing power than todays average cell phone.
Has to be weird seeing things change so much in one lifetime.
post by HookedonMetal at Jun 17,2014 5:07pm edited Jun 17,2014 5:14pm
What Aril said! Its fair to say it's far more advancd than what most people on this forum started out with.
A friend of mine managed a restaurant and had someone call up irate that their website wouldn't load. After some prodding he found out that they were trying to view it on a WebTV browser. This was like 5 years ago too so he had to explain to some woman that her internet service had been extinct for over a decade.
I eventually had a throw away Compaq 386 in my bedroom (that I used my smokin hot 9000 Kbps modem on). It booted up to a security login and then loaded a Boston Edison graphic. I played around the with Autoexec.BAT and changed the security login to the Moria gates riddle from LOTR and the Boston Edison graphic to a terrrrrible Slayer sword pentagram I made with an ASCII graphic generator.
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 17,2014 8:00pm
Real talk, in any case: Actual IBM 386, with a recently-installed 20MB hard drive and a 1200bps modem. (By "internet" here we're talking "dial-up BBS with email service and door games and horrible 320x480 porn GIFs that take an hour to load and the Jolly Roger's Cookbook and fucking ASCII art.") Later on I did a bunch of Usenet. Still remember the first time I saw Netscape at my girlfriend's house. 90% sure the first thing I searched for on the web was "Madball hardcore." LOLLLLLLLZ
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 17,2014 8:07pm
Oh, yeah: MS-DOS I wanna sayyyyyyyy 3? Or possibly 4 (I believe 4 was the one that came with a shell, and I remember upgrading to that around that time).
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 17,2014 8:09pm
Bonus memory: Mom finally broke down and bought an EGA monitor because of King's Quest III. I got her hooked and it totally worked in my favor.
Trying to figure out the standard specs for a Packard Bell 486 desktop in 1994 because I doubt my parents spent any extra cash on it.
2400 kbps modem.
I remember having to upgrade the RAM just to meet the minimum AOL requirements.
Eventually upgraded to a 9000 Kbps modem that the Boston Edison IT department was going to throw out and gave to my dad instead
I had that same computer! it was 33mhz or 50mhz. IF it was the cheap one, it was 33mhz. that's what I got.
Can't remember exactly what years this spans, but back in the 90s we had a computer in our house with a 32 inch monitor and wireless keyboard that doubled as our television. It was pretty snazzy.
I dont remember the specs of the first computer we had for internetting.. I remember using BBSs after school in 7th and 8th grade. I know I landed myself on some lists because of all the anarchist cookbook shit I was looking up, munitions instructions, hacking, etc etc. good times..
anybody (mainly xmikex) remember the game L.O.R.D.?
I think this is a list of all the "main" computers I have had:
commodore vic 20 (returned after a couple days)
commodore 64
Apple IIgs (1987)
packard bell 486sx 25 (1994)
133Mhz pentium custom build machine (1996)
200Mhz pentium custom build machine (1997)
700Mhz AMD atholon custom build machine (2000)
Dell 1.2 centrino 12" laptop (2004) << still runs
2Ghz core 2 duo custom build machine (2008)
QNAP TS-639 Pro (2009) << NAS
3.4Ghz quad custom build machine (2010) << use every day at work
HP proliant 1.5Ghz (2012) << my back up machine/HTPC
hp envy 15 i7 3610qm (2012) << my daily driver for RTTP stuff
surface pro 2 (2013) << my desktop replacement
Can I say this about BBS-ing... it took real life balls to troll somebody knowing that a guy that lived 2 towns over from you that had your name and phone number and could find your address in the phone book.
The worst thing that ever happened though was a sysop calling my house to yell at me because I harassed him for ruining a Barren Realms league that I had lobbied to get the BBS into. Only getting screamed at by a middle aged man on the phone while your mom stares you down because she knows you did a bunch of asshole shit on the computer and doesn't believe that it's just a friend of yours calling about math homework and you have to poker face the fuck out of everyone... is real.
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 18,2014 10:34am
That's just that old school ride or die BBS attitude for ya.
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 18,2014 10:36am
THERE'S GONNA BE TWO HANDSHAKES: MY MODEM CONNECTING TO YOUR MODEM, AND YOUR FACE CONNECTING TO THE FLOOR
post by arilliusbm at Jun 18,2014 10:39am edited Jun 18,2014 10:39am
If you've never stared at a monochromatic monitor, YOUVE NEVER LIVED
In 9th grade I wrote a QBASIC program for a history fair project. It was really simple Input$ GOTO stuff but I wrote it from scratch and did it so that if you typed in one of the terms on my cool posterboard it told you things about Napoleon's conquest of Europe. I had it displayed on a 10" monochrome IBM laptop that was already obsolete in 1996.
I think I got a B- on it and my teacher barely looked at it. The winner was a rich kid who had his parents drive his desktop computer to school and run a PowerPoint slideshow of photos that he scanned (not a commonly affordable piece of hardware at the time) that probably took him 15 minutes to do. He eventually graduated and went to Harvard.
I'll have to ask my father what he built. (He has been involved in computers since punch cards)
But I do remember playing HACK on his computer as a kid, pre internet. I loved typing out in DOS on its amber screen. I would have marathon HACK games at night and would write down the highlights of the adventures.
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 18,2014 11:53am
That could quite possibly one of the nerdiest things someone could argue about. Just imagine someone walking into an argument overwhether or not Green or Amber monochromatic monitors are real.
GREEN all day, though. Amber was for pussies.
post by arilliusbm at Jun 18,2014 1:12pm edited Jun 18,2014 1:13pm
Also, 5 1/4 Floppy disks > usb sticks
post by DYA is DUAL BISMUTH YAW GATE at Jun 18,2014 1:15pm
I'm surprised nobody wandered over to that Ramlord/BT thread to call them posers for using 3.5" disks instead of 5.25".
One thing I can agree on is that the computer cases were much better/heavier back then.
They were designed like tanks, but I wouldn't say they were better. Nowadays cases are lighter, quieter, built with more capabilities, and have better airflow. They've evolved with the needs of the hardware they house.
post by arilliusbm at Jun 18,2014 3:12pm edited Jun 18,2014 3:14pm
Obviously, I was talking in the sense of the case itself, not comparing it to the technology inside. Same thing with cars. Give me a 4000 pound metal boat over a 1200 fiberglass piece of shit any day.
(even though I drive a cheap ass Civic.) :/
post by Marsh at Jun 18,2014 9:52pm
Compaq presario in 1995-1996ish
post by BeholdJudas at Jun 19,2014 6:48pm
I don't even fuckin' know. Some home model running 98 from around '97 or '98; I don't recall having internet until around '99 or '00.
Definitely had a TI-99 at some point when I was really little that had a couple of text based RPGs and Hunt the Wumpus. I remember being really inquisitive about it and my parents being very "*shrug* It's just a stupid computer who cares?" THANKS A LOT MOM.
