According to the Mexican Internet Association, more than 45% of Mexican residents have access to the web and spend an average of 5 hours a day online… but it wasn’t always that way. In just 14 years there has been a massive amount of change and so in time for World Internet Day we present 10 things you’ve probably already forgotten about how the internet used to be:
1.- 56k dial-up modem and the horrible sound it made while trying to connect.
2.- The A.O.L campaign that distributed CD's through magazines that offered free access for a month.
3.- Updating the world on your status using Messenger instead of Twitter.
4.- Netscape was the king of all browsers until Internet Explorer came online.
5.- “Dot Com” fever where businesses were clamoring to get websites up without fully understanding how they could use them.
6.- Downloading mp3s on Napster.
7.- Waiting around for 15 minutes for a movie trailer to download.
8.- Before Facebook, making online friends on Hi-5 and Friendster.
9.- Many websites ending with .tk due to the small island of Tokelau (Oceania) which offered free domains.
10.- Web designers discovering Flash, and all the super successful pages of the time becoming completely obsolete.
Can you help us to supplement the list? Tell us what else you remember from the “olden days” of the internet.
Jorge Chavez is Senior Editor at Mijo! Brands of Mexico.