If you’ve read my about page, you’ll know that my first computer was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A in the early 80’s. Because of that computer, I’m no stranger to technology. Learning how to program the clocks on VCR’s, microwave’s, etc. came at an early age. I’m a very logical person so technology makes sense to me. How people use it seems to be the confusing part. Example, posting WAY too much personal information on the internet and wondering how their identity got stolen or how they got fired from their job.
How did I end up here?
I find this to be a question most people ask themselves. And most seem to always say “If you told me ‘x’ amount of years ago that I’d be [insert current job title here], I’d tell you you’re crazy.”
My friend, Zak Muscovitch, recently wrote a post titled When Did You First Hear of the Internet?. Reading it and then commenting about the post sort of took me down memory lane and inspired me to write this post.
In his article, Zak mentions programs like PowWow, Command & Conquer and sites like tucows.com, and webcrawler.com.
In 1988 I joined the Air Force to work on airplanes….yep, airplanes. Why not computers? I don’t really know. In 1992 while stationed at McGuire AFB, NJ, I went to a friends house. He had a computer all sprawled out on his dining room table and he told me about email. He explained what email was and said he and his mom in Tennessee exchange email to stay in touch. I remember asking this specific question. How long does it take an email to reach her? Is it faster than regular mail? To my amazement, he didn’t know the answer. I laugh at those questions today. I’m not 100% certain, but I think they were using Prodigy. We had a computer at work with Windows 3.0 on it….no email or internet, but I could open Print Shop Deluxe and make some kickass banners that printed out via our dot matrix printer.
Fast forward to 1993ish when I got my first x86 based PC. Windows 3.1 which eventually got upgraded to Windows 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups) and then to Windows 95 when it was released. I got my first modem (2400bps) and signed on to my first BBS (Bulletin Board System). Somewhere around 1995 I upgraded to a 14.4k modem and signed up for the internet via HawaiiOnline.com….yes, I was stationed in Hawaii at Hickam AFB. From friends, I knew of webcrawler and just started searching and surfing. I came across a chat program called mIRC. This chat program allowed me to ‘talk’ with my friends who had the internet as well but were stationed overseas. I also got to meet other folks online as well via different channels with different topics.
Next came the 28.8 modem and faster download speeds over dial up. The first time I was able to download from tucows.com (The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software) at 3kbps, I was AMAZED at the blazing speed. Then came the 33.6k modem and finally the 56.6k modem with download speeds of up to 6kbps.
I built my first free website at GeoCities.com and specifically remember the little ~ (tilde) in the URL to access personal pages. Yes, I had scrolling and blinking text on my page because I could.
My co-workers and I would play Command & Conquer while working grave shift…..on military computers. LOL! We even figured out how to host a web site from the same government computers. It was so easy. There were no firewalls to bypass at that time. This was 95 or 96. We were such hackers. Remember web ferret? While at work on the super fast government connection I would download all of the popular freeware programs, copy them to my external Zip Drive, take it home and burn them to disc and sell each disc for $10. Most people only had access to dial up so it would’ve taken forever for them to download the same programs. Easy money. : ) Tucows was one of my favorite sites as well. Anything with a five cow rating got downloaded whether I needed it or not. My first CD burner was 2x speed and was something like $350. I also use to burn music for my friends band and in return I got in to all of the shows for free. Ratt, Dokken, Great White, Warrant, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. at a little club called Gussie L’amour’s. I also learned one of my friends knew how to build real websites (not GeoCities sites). I told him we should go down to Waikiki and offer to build websites for hotels so they could put their gift shops online. Not sure why we didn’t follow through with that one.
On May 1st, 2000 I hit the mother load. I got a cable modem. I was downloading whatever I could get my hands on via Napster and sharing software, music, and whatever else via my own ftp server.
Remember ICQ? My ICQ number is 347343. Yep, six digits. According to their site, they have over 42 million active users now. It’s amazing how some things catch on.
About 2am ish on November 27thish of 2000 I got off work early. I go home, get on my computer to see what sort of trouble I can get in to. : ) My ICQ was open when my computer was on and I see a message from a Charlie. I’m thinking….Charlie….I don’t want to chat with a guy. But then I saw the email was Charlotte. We chatted until around 6:30am. Went to a late lunch that same day and have been together ever since. Almost 13 years later, this ‘Charlie’ is my wife and we’ve shared many adventures together including our latest with TraileRVania.
At any point in my life in the 90’s, if you would’ve told me that I’d be married to a girl I met online managing a domain portfolio and could work from anywhere as long as I had an internet connection….I would’ve told you you’re crazy.
And that’s how I ended up here…..right where I’m supposed to be.
Wow Brian!
There are so many interesting things in this story!
For example:
1. I had NO IDEA (or had long ago forgotten that Tucows was an acronym!!! Holy moly!
2. I love this question: “How long does it take an email to reach her?” Hilarious, but at the time, totally reasonable question to ask!
3. Windows 95. Gosh I remember the huge hoopla when that came out!
4. I had totally forgotten about Geocities! Great memory!!
5. I had NO IDEA ICQ was still around! Which kinda reminds me, what about News Groups??!!!!!
News Groups! I had forgotten about those.
How about the kickass browser that you had to pay for Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0. I used that to browse the news groups. Then came Netscape Communicator 4.0 and it seemed only slightly better….plus it was free.
Very refreshing. I usually type novels because I have a problem keeping down to a manageable length, but I’ll keep this short. I remember all of those sites, utilities, and the hardware you mentioned.
I went from high school to a JC while working at a computer store where prior to working there used to buy games for my Commodore 64. I migrated with a couple of coworkers to a couple other computer stores before getting a job at the short-lived Merrill Lynch Commercial Real Estate, where my dad was the regional director. I was THE computer guy there. So much so that when I left, they had to pay one of their brokers buku bucks to do the computer work since everyone dumped the work on me instead of sitting with me to learn how to do it themselves.
I was at home one night, logged into a friends Fidonet BBS (it used to schedule packet bursts to other Fidonet BBS computers to exchange email) when my buddy saw me on his system and broke into the middle of my session and asked how I like my job. I responded, typing that I enjoyed it but wasn’t getting paid enough. He then typed, “How would you like to work for Ashton-Tate?” which was the creator of dBASE II, the premier database software in the world. After an interview THE NEXT DAY I was in, gave my 2 week notice but was allowed to leave later that week with my two weeks paid. I went down to Mexico for nine days with a couple friends to La Paz between one company and my first computer industry job. I’ve been working for software and hardware companies and independent test labs ever since 1985 now, though I am currently testing mobile apps and websites for the entertainment industry – it took this long to get into the industry I wanted to work in using the testing and test management skills I’ve developed over the years.
I wouldn’t be where I am had it not been for a friend from my first computer store, CPM on the Kaypro, Fidonet BBS, Compuserve, and all the other stepping stones on the way up, from Windows 286 (then 386 before 3.0) which was a white screen with a blue bar at the top where applications that had a graphical UI could be launched. Windows, though a nightmare most of the time, has kept me working for years so I could finally do what I’m doing and work on a Mac all day. LOL
I really could get into many more details, but just wanted to toss this out here and say that I’m with ya. Fun times, great tech and technical innovations and advancements, and even better things to come.
Hope to be in touch with a computer veteran like yourself who encountered very similar hurdles while in a different part of the world and while serving the country to boot.
Best wishes to you and yours,
Rob
Awesome story Rob. Thanks for sharing.