Retrocomputing Stack Exchange
Retrocomputing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [internet]

Connecting retro systems to the Internet, and historical aspects of the Internet: software, hardware, protocols. DO NOT USE WHEN MERELY ASKING ABOUT HISTORICAL RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET OF TODAY.

Use this tag for questions about historical computers’ connections to the Internet, or historical aspects of the Internet, its software, hardware or protocols.

It should not be used for questions about resources about historical computing found on the Internet today.

67 questions
28
votes
4 answers

Was the Stack Exchange "Happy April Fools" page fitting with the '90's code?

We nostalgia fans were all treated to a nineties-esque page on the various Stack Exchange sites, complete with guest books, obnoxious tiled backgrounds, Comic Sans, etc. However, when I went to view the source code, I was expecting to see tables…
komodosp
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25
votes
3 answers

When connecting to the Internet via Dial-Up, why did ISPs require a username/password to authenticate the session?

It's been many years now, but when I used to connect to the Internet via Dial-Up back in the day I noticed at the time that as well as entering the phone number for my Dial-Up provider, a username/password were also required. Why did Dial-Up…
elliott94
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23
votes
11 answers

What was the equivalent of "America Online" (AOL) outside America?

The rise in popularity of home PCs with modems in the U.S. coincided with the rise of America Online. Of course, many of us in America were online for years before this - using Compuserve, GEnie, and BBS's mostly. But for mainstream America first…
Brian H
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21
votes
9 answers

Why weren't audio decoders used to create a makeshift internet in the 70 and 80s?

I know ARPANET wasn't available to the public until the '90s, but why didn't people just build modems (which most phone companies already had anyway), connect their phone's phone connector to it, dial up a "server" and connect to it that way? The…
user2741831
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16
votes
1 answer

l-------l.com, a weird web page from 2000

I remember a mysterious web page from 2000 with the domain name l-------l.com. This domain name goes against RFC 5891 but it was valid back in the day. It's pretty hard to search for this. Most search engines decide I want to know about "L". The…
Daniel Darabos
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13
votes
1 answer

How did WebTV (MSN TV) work

Wikipedia says: The WebTV product was an adapter that allowed a television set to be connected to the Internet, primarily for web browsing and e-mail. The setup included a web browser, a corded or wireless (e.g., bluetooth or IRDA) keyboard and a…
ha_1694
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4
votes
3 answers

What were some of the earliest common webservers and how did they work?

And by Web server I mean actually web server (not BBS), meaning it had to run on the actual IP internet and be browsed with a dedicated browser program. So what kind of tools were used in the late 80s/early 90s when some common households started…
user2741831
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3
votes
7 answers

Why did they switch from phone numbers to IP addresses?

Before IPv4 addresses there were phone numbers. Why did they switch to IPv4 addresses to address devices in the internet? I thought one reason is you need addresses in the local LAN. But I could even imagine to reserve a country code (e.g. +99) for…
javanerd
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3
votes
1 answer

Using “vintage proxy” with dial up simulator

I am in the process of building a dial up simulator involving a 1990s era desktop and laptop. The desktop, which is connected to Ethernet, acts as the dial-up server and the laptop computer dials in to the “server” through its built in modem. The…
user18789
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3
votes
1 answer

Could somebody remind me how to access the WAP browser on the Nokia N73?

From memory, the Nokia N73 had two web browsers; one WAP browser, and another, fully-functional HTML application. Would somebody be able to remind me what both of these options are labeled as when navigating through the menu of the phone? I think…
elliott94
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2
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3 answers

How were customers typically charged when purchasing Dial-Up Internet services from an ISP?

This is a follow-up from my previous question - When connecting to the Internet via Dial-Up, why did ISPs require a username/password to authenticate the session?. In the above question, we established that ISPs offering dial-up services to…
elliott94
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1
vote
3 answers

Connecting multiple computers through dialup

I have several IBM ThinkPads with an RJ-11 port that can be used for dialup internet connections. Currently I have one ThinkPad connected to a dialup modem, that connects to the internet through a modern ThinkPad with Ethernet. What would be the…
Eloy
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0
votes
1 answer

What were the earliest images uploaded on the internet before the web?

What's the earliest images uploaded on the internet before the protocol the web existed? People believed the Cernettes image was the first image on the internet when it's actually the first image on the web in 1992, not the internet itself.
Amber Alvia
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2 answers

How were images uploaded in online service providers?

Before the first image was uploaded on the World Wide Web in 1992, it was possible for people to upload images on the internet before the World Wide Web, users uploaded images on online service providers such as CompuServe, GEnie and among others,…
Maya Anglieo
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