Worlds First Website Just Turned 25 Years Old - And It's Still Live

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Xtrozero
Wildcat BBS was the engine for the "site".

Lol ok I knew I heard that name somewhere...

a reply to: ghostrager

the site has been resurected for sentimental reasons

< reality check >

a reply to: ghostrager

Such a fantastic point. Things were so much better before all these smart phones, My Space, Facebook, and other social media outlets... Pick up your landline to talk to someone, and write a note to your significant other. The biggest problem was reading a road map while driving. Or looking at billboards.

a reply to: reldra

When I was a Junior (1996) in High School, we had 6 computers in a room, and those were the only ones we had in the school. Our Keyboarding was still done on typewriters. We used to always pop in a floppy disc to play Oregon Trail and Wheel of Fortune.

i remember using a commodore that my grandfather had. then i used a tandy something or other for a long time.
i remember the big thing back on the day was 'ibm compatible'

i bought a brand new hp pavillion in maybe 2002. close to that time. it had an 80 gig hard drive and a 56k modem. 3.5 floppy. i think i paid close to a grand for that thing.
i thought i was killing it. i thought there was no way i would ever need anything bigger than 80 gigs. told myself i would never fill it up.
back then the only thing i really did was check imdb and use aim. posted on a couple message boards.

there was not much happening on the net. people were still going on about sites like rotten and ebaumsworld.

thought that 80 gig would last me forever and now it wont even scratch the surface.
i have several terabyte external hd's floating around and they are all damn near full.

wow the WWW is 25 years old. i only got online in 2008. i'm a net-noob but the first computer i had was a sinclair zx81, a beast of a machine.

originally posted by: RoScoLaz4
wow the WWW is 25 years old. i only got online in 2008. i'm a net-noob

but the first computer i had was a sinclair zx81, a beast of a machine.

A beast? I'll trump that with my Amstrad CPC464 - with green screen! Hah!

And then I got an Amiga A500 - tremble at the powah!

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Gothmog
But , we had BBS servers that served the same purpose (yes even conspiracy sites) long before that . Since we had very narrow local call ranges , anyone here remember how we got around the tremendous long distance charges for downloading that 2k file ?

I remember a BBS that talked about Dungeons and Dragons, it was ran by TSR. My name on it was Reldra. I used that name as a player in the game. Later, more than one D&D novel had the name reldra as a minor character. I posted that on a modern TSR website. I could have sued. I didn't.

LOL, I don't remember how one got around that. I was using other people's computers though.

First , yes I remember . That server was actually located in Seattle. And dont get me started with D&D . I have a still shrink-wrapped copy of Chainmail , Swords and Spells , and Eldritch Wizardry.

We got around it by asking the person still in our local distance , but yet far enough to dial the next area without charges. Then they would ask the next person. This would go on for 25 hops with each person in line having to download the file in their turn. It would take weeks for me to get a file from that server.

I was a co-sysop at that time. A better alternative we used was to arrange the same type of deal, but to install an extra telephone line in their home we would pay for monthly. We would configure that line as a relay, so our signal would travel long distances for free via multiple hops of local connections. We built a physical "web" of connections across the entire state and 3 adjacent states. For non-local folks we charged a minimal fee covering the expenses for the connections.

We were in the process of connecting local parents of college students via Internet email (we were the cheapest access point) when the WWW arrived on the scene.

It was a true wild-west, with ZERO censorship at the time.

a reply to: MrCrow

oh god, i remember those - had a built-in cassette deck? (the amstrad)

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

Indeed it did! And the serious screeching as the code loaded... good lord!

a reply to: Gothmog

I remember those days.

I used to call into a BBS everyday to play TradeWars 2002. I was a part of a clan, and was addicted to the game. That and LORD. We had a 1200BPS modem. And it would take 2 hours, if I remember, to download a 2k file.

But no charges, all our BBSes were local. I never called out to a long distance one.

And I do remember when the internet came out, and thinking, ah, I'll stick with my BBSes. Already had met lots of friends through the local one, we would eve have local BBS parties and everyone would gather together at a mall or some other place, every so often, a couple of times a year, to meet up in person.

Then something happened, oh, I got married, and stop BBSing, and then I was using the Internet because of work, and really never went back to BBSing.

I was a co-sysop of a BBS my classmates made in high school as well. Hah, the memories.

a reply to: Ghost147

I know Right? This is one of the BEST Era's to be Alive in!!!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk(....)
Computers had been around for a couple decades by the time terms like "The Internet" and "World Wide Web" became part of our vocabulary. Heck, mankind had been to the Moon already (...although this is debatable here on ATS!), but prior to that moment digital interaction across electronic media remained for rarified crowd. Things would be different alright.

I remember MS Windows 3.0, and I remember how Windows 3.11 was supposed to be such a dramatic 'upgrade' to 3.0. Heh, I remember figuring out what 'File', 'Edit' and so forth did.

Oh the memories!

Thanks for the mental walk down memory lane.

Things are always different with new information technologie. The printing press, in its day, had a big impact. Before electronic wired telegraph there was the semaphore telegraph system (worked using telescopes and a series of arms with 196 possible combinations. Towers were separated by several miles. The first electronic telegraph system sent its first message in 1844, between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. In 1861, the east coast of the US was connected to the west in California. Both the western and eastern coasts were already somewhat wired up. And radio.... I remember reading an historic magazine about how popular it was to congregrate around a radio in the 1920's, almost like how people would crowd around a TV many decades later. And I didn't mention phones, did I? The phonograph was invented in 1877. It allowed Thomas Edison to record "Good morning. How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?" onto it and replay it to some stunned people in a scientific american office in 1877. The first telephone call was made in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. At the time, Alexander speculated of a future when people could communicate to each other from their homes. He also went on to create a wireless telephone which transmitted the message on a beam of light. In 1915 the eastern coast of the US and the western coast were connected by telephone lines and Alexander's speculations decades ago were confirmed.

originally posted by: ghostrager

A mere 25 years and we now live in a world where you can't take a walk in the park without your phone vibrating, or beeping, or ringing. Your on call 24/7 and the excuse of "I didn't check my phone" completely died just a few short years ago.

I am? It did? I haven't noticed. I have a six year old cell phone - the second one I ever bought - and I use it strictly when I want to communicate something urgently... which is very, very rarely. Most of the time I don't even carry it with me. (You want to call me? Tough luck. Use a bonfire. Or telepathy. Or just WAIT untiI I am anywhere near my phone AND in the mood for phone.)

More importantly: what have PHONES got to do with the first internet website?

I am thankful, though, that you called this piece of history to my attention.

originally posted by: Krakatoa

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Gothmog
But , we had BBS servers that served the same purpose (yes even conspiracy sites) long before that . Since we had very narrow local call ranges , anyone here remember how we got around the tremendous long distance charges for downloading that 2k file ?

I remember a BBS that talked about Dungeons and Dragons, it was ran by TSR. My name on it was Reldra. I used that name as a player in the game. Later, more than one D&D novel had the name reldra as a minor character. I posted that on a modern TSR website. I could have sued. I didn't.

LOL, I don't remember how one got around that. I was using other people's computers though.

First , yes I remember . That server was actually located in Seattle. And dont get me started with D&D . I have a still shrink-wrapped copy of Chainmail , Swords and Spells , and Eldritch Wizardry.

We got around it by asking the person still in our local distance , but yet far enough to dial the next area without charges. Then they would ask the next person. This would go on for 25 hops with each person in line having to download the file in their turn. It would take weeks for me to get a file from that server.

I was a co-sysop at that time. A better alternative we used was to arrange the same type of deal, but to install an extra telephone line in their home we would pay for monthly. We would configure that line as a relay, so our signal would travel long distances for free via multiple hops of local connections. We built a physical "web" of connections across the entire state and 3 adjacent states. For non-local folks we charged a minimal fee covering the expenses for the connections.

We were in the process of connecting local parents of college students via Internet email (we were the cheapest access point) when the WWW arrived on the scene.

It was a true wild-west, with ZERO censorship at the time.

I just searched for it and, surprise, I found it (ECIS TBBS) listed on the BBS List
Wow, that was a fun and exiting time for sure.

ETA:
HAAAA....I just found, still live, one of our last customers (A. Lizard), when we actually got a domain name on the 'net. The domain itself is inactive, by the DNS seems to still route to the server! Wow!!! Who new...

a reply to: ghostrager

When I was a kid I had 3 very similar fantasies -

To be locked up accidentally all alone inside an art supply store, a library and a museum (with food and water) :-)

Thank you magical internet - for making all my dreams come true - and then some