Thursday, September 03, 2020

Internets

 ATT sent us a new modem, which we installed. 

The internet continued to intermittently fail.

We called their customer service again. (They have possibly the worst customer service on the planet.) Customer service did something by remote. ("checked the connection," I think?)

Internet is now working. But I expect it to fail at any moment.

I'm reading a book written in 1995. This was just before the internet became universal and pervasive, and before cell phones. People are communicating by snail mail and by calling each other up on landlines. When they don't know something, they have to go to newpapers archives in the basement of a library and hunt through stacks and stacks of old issues by hand. If they can't find someone, they have to go drive around looking for them. 

It's like another planet, y'all. 

One I seriously don't want to live on again.



6 comments:

Jenny F. Scientist said...

I remember calling the homework line in high school! We had the internet then but nobody was using it for useful things, like... homework!

We are trying to get fiber optic installed (by a small local co-op) and the Fiber Optic Dude has been by our house three times. They may need to put in an extra electric pole and drill a hole in the side of the house. It's a whole saga.

delagar said...


Ha. Back in 1998, when we moved to NC, Dr. Skull had to get a high-speed line for his job (tech support). They had to run a special line and drill a hole in the wall then too.

We had great internet, though there wasn't much happening back then. I was a member of a chat line for new mothers. Dr. Skull downloaded illegal music. I built a web page which none of my students could access. Good times!

D Shannon said...

I'll take 1995. At least I was able to go outside then.

Jenny F. Scientist said...

Yeah, by the time I was in college (in 1998) we were mostly using the internet for illegal music. I had a whole huge collection.

I don't remember really using the internet for much useful back then and I learned about the Clinton impeachment from a print newspaper.

delagar said...

Napster! Remember Napster?

Anonymous said...

Internet yes. Social media, not so much.