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Those Desktop PC's were certainly capable enough, and they came with a decent software bundle. A Word Processor, funnily enough named Word. An Excel spreadsheet that allowed mathematical gymnastics with stored data, and produced some snazzy Bar Charts, Pie Charts, and Bar Pies. There was even a Power Point Slide creator, in case you had to present the Family Budget at the dinner table.
My old workhorse came with a suite of games, including a very cool Pinball Machine with the Tab keys as flippers and real arcade music.
The Internet Browser of the day was Netscape, or if you didn't want to stray too far from the Microsoft brand, there was Explorer. You could "browse" the World Wide Web and in mere seconds, get text or graphics right there on your desktop. I remember reading "The Da Vinci Code" and finding the Last Supper painting that Dan Brown was referring to on the Detroit Institute of Art website. Took a minute or two to download, but there it was.
Those machines of the day were wonderful, even if they were a little slow. Sometimes they would freeze-up, usually on Mondays or Fridays, The preferred fix was percussive maintenance, which started with an open hand slap upside the monitor and escalated quickly to The Footwear Solution. However, this was always difficult to explain to the IT guy when the user stood there with a single shoe on the right foot and a size 12 dent on the tower. These Desktops were also notoriously short on memory. The big upgrade was to install 1 MEG . 1,024,000 bytes of storage.....that should last forever !!
Another looming problem was that little glitch known as Y2K, but nobody really thought all the Nuclear Reactors would revert to their Year 1900 settings, and bathe the Planet in radioactive fallout. Did they ?
So there we were, near the Dawn of the New Millenium, looking forward to exponentially increasing the technological leaps of the past 20 years.
And what did the next 20 years bring ?? Well, we got Facebook, which should more correctly be called Recipebook or FunnyCatPhotobook because let's face it -- that's really all that can be trusted on that site. Then Facebook begat Twitter, which begat Instagram, which begat SnapChat........which placed in doubt the future of the Human Species. Was that supposed to be Progress ??
Today we store all our important data in The Cloud, so that when you need that Funny Cat Photo -- it's right there where you left it. Except that some of the most devious actors out there can get at your Cat's Photo and you won't know about it until it's too late to save poor Fluffy.
We still interface with these machines using ergonomically-challenged keyboards. Or even worse, the thumb-sized alphabet of Cell Phones. The QWERTY Keyboard was invented in 1868.....isn't it about time we moved on. The hyperbolic increase in Carpal Tunnel Surgeries should have been our first clue. Where is the Voice Recognition ?? Are you telling me we can't design to accommodate our regional accents ?? The Swedish folks have about 25 different words for Snow, is that a problem ? Programming 101 -- Use a look-up table
And passwords for every secure website we access. Who can remember all of that ?? I use a default for all of these -- one of the Swedish words for Snow, spelled backwards (don't forget the umlaut). But how about a Retinal Scan for authentication ??
Some will point out the new flat screen monitors or the blazing speed of the i-Core Processors. To those folks I say, "Balderdash"
All you have is a cooler-running monitor and more desk space for Cat Photos.
The first computer I ever saw was in 1974 when the company I worked for got one. Wall to wall equipment, reels and lights in it's own climate controlled room. Hired a programmer to take care of it. I heard on TV one night that it wouldn't be long and every home in America would have a computer in their home. All I could think was "Who would want something like THAT in their home??". I guess I just had NO idea, did I? lol
In 1997 I finally learned how to use a computer. It had the old DOS system but was good enough for what we did with it. I bought my first computer in 1998 and since then there have been so many changes and upgrades it boggles the mind. And options! I am on my 4th computer in 20 years so I guess that's not too bad, considering what a workout I give it. All my friends live in my monitor.
I wrote the following tongue-in-cheeks short story to share at a local open mic night, but now I can't resist sharing it here
I've always admitted that I'm a “bookaholic.” Oh yes, I know the proper word is bibliophile, but it seems to me words ending in phile have a sinister connotation. Anyways, it's time for me to admit to another long addiction. I'm addicted to clicks! Does that make me a clickophile?
It was in high school that I first learned the clickety clack of the keys on an Underwood typewriter. While each key gave a satisfying click, at first it wasn't words which appeared on the paper; instead it was gibberish, such as “asdf” and “jkl;”. The typing staccato was very brief. Clickety clack, clickety click, clickety clack, then a ding! as I returned the carriage. Our teacher placed a metronome on her desk to assist us with learning the tempo of the keys.
At first, there were many times when I pressed the keys too quickly. Clack, ack, crunch—the keys crashed together in the air. Snick, snick as I cleared the jam, rewound the typewriter spool, and returned my fingers to the home row. I spent weeks clickety-clacking nonsense before I typed my first word. Yet, it didn't take long to catch onto the clicking tempo, and I became adept at typing, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." This had a good beat; my fingers could dance to it!
When I started working, I encountered the selectric typewriter. While it had a slightly different click, it didn't take long to understand the beat. Its keys made a comforting clack, so it was easy to master this contraption.
Even learning the 10-key adding machine was satisfying, and its music soon joined the repertoire. Each numeric key had its own special sound. I could run tapes that were six feet long without making a mistake that marred my tempo. Of course, this was back when the # sign meant a number sign, not a hash tag!
Then a mainframe computer was introduced into our workplace. The 96-column card, keypunch machine had its own special rhythm, but first I had to master the numerical keypad. Its numbers were arranged like those on a push-button telephone—backwards to the adding machine. However, it wasn't long before my fingers were dancing across its keys. Clickety click, clickety clack, then a psst, tck, psst, tck, whizt, tunk as the holes were punched, then the card whizzed through the rollers and into the hopper.
With the advent of memory typewriters and word processors, the rhythm changed tempo as new keys were mastered. Ctrl, Alt and Function keys were added to the song's portfolio—my fingers dancing along but always remaining near home.
Personal computers changed things. Why did they say the mouse was “point and click?” The mouse's sound isn't satisfying, and it definitely is too quiet to be called a click! The need to move my hand was an annoyance. But at least the keyboard still produced a soothing clickety, clack tempo, and I could feel the home row indicators as my hand moved back from using the mouse.
Now, as you know, every few years the computer dies. The newer models come with added features, but over the years, the keyboards became plastic and their size shrunk. So, for over two decades, I've used an old Compaq 386 keyboard which produces my soothing clickety sounds. Though this keyboard has been thoroughly cleaned many times, it shows the years of heavy usage and needs to be retired with honors. Do you think it would appreciate receiving a gold watch?
My recently acquired keyboard has a USB plug. Its keys are plastic and smushed together similar to a laptop. At my first use, I couldn't locate the delete key. I cannot find any tempo using this device. I feel its design is flawed, and I must admit it, I'm addicted to clicks! So though I'm not a gamer, as soon as I can, I will splurge on a mechanical keyboard. During my life I learned many new tricks, but this old gal needs those comforting clicks!
I hated computers until my ex brought one home in 1997. First thing I did was "visit" the Louvre Museum. I was blown away. Second thing I did on this new contraption was to type in my grandfather's place and date of birth as I was starting to get interested in genealogy.
Soon someone across the ocean had sent me the desired information about my grandfather and now I was over the moon!
Problem was, it was slow and it kept breaking down. But it was better than today in many ways. No ads, lots of excitement, not so commercialized. For the genealogy, there was a lot more personal contact, people who got to be online friends. Now you have to pay and join Ancestry, which is impersonal.
I think there must have been a "sweet spot" somewhere along the way when it was less commercialized, no one hacking in, more fun, more simple--and yet it still got results.
If you only use a PC for simple office tasks (word processing, spreadsheet, presentation chart etc.) then a 1999 desktop may be sufficient.
For more complex office, scientific/engineering or media processing tasks, one needs faster processors, faster graphic cards, more memories, faster data transfer speed, more storage space etc.
Whether we like or want it or not, we have to upgrade to newer operating system to get security protection and compatibility with new software. I very much doubt that there are many people still using Win98. One also need a much more capable PC than a 1999 version to load/run the new operating systems and software.
Websites are also a lot more complex with embedded videos. One not only need faster internet connection but also more capable desktop/laptop to surf the web. It would be very difficult to use a 1999 computer with win98 to surf the web!
So if the world has not changed with no new operating systems, software, complex websites and you don't need to perform complex tasks, your old 1999 computer would be sufficient. As a matter of fact, I have a 1999 home-built PC with windows 2000 operating system which I still keep to run old legacy hardware (serial, paralel ports, SCSI devices). It runs old MS office version and a slew of old software programs. However, I don't use it to connect to the web.
I have been doing my best to extend the life of desktop which I built 6 years ago (new processor, new video card, more memory, usb 3 adapter, new wifi adapter, solid state hd, more hds etc.). If we are to upgrade our cameras from GH3 to GH5 to get 4K video, I will either have to build or purchase a new desktop. There is no way that we can can edit/process 4K videos with our current system.
I will admit to all that my ancient keyboard has many of the cheap painted letters worn off, so if I misspell anything with an M or an N in it........I plead no lo contendere. Even the little nubbins on the F and J keys are gone !!
My first computer was a Commodore 64 circa 1982. Followed that one with a Kaypro 2000 in 1985 and an Amstrad in 1989 that I got for graduate school. The Amstrad only had 512 kB of memory and I needed 640 so I soldered a socket on the motherboard myself and added the memory chip for it.
Later, I wanted a HDD and used the Computer Shopper magazine (remember those?) to purchase one from a Tempe AZ company called “Hard Drives International”. It was probably 5gb and cost $250....about twice what I paid for the computer which I got on-sale from Some department store. HDI talked me through the install procress and I was hugely impressed with them. They became Insight, still in Tempe.
OP, you're conflating two separate things. Hardware/software and the web. Any computer purchased today still has a word processor, spreadsheet program, games, etc. If you choose to disconnect the modem, then you are mimicking old school computers.
As for the web, you can limit what you do. No one is forced to used social media or store things in the cloud. You can disavow google and never transact any personal business on the web. That's your choice.
Your argument is flawed because even if a modem is disconnected from the web, a 2018 computer is way better than a 1999 computer. A funny example. I had some documents professionally processed and the person provided them to me on a 16 gig thumb drive. They just gave me the drive free and clear. Back in 1999, a 16 gig hard drive would cost close to $1k and would have been half the size of a toaster.
Progress is good.
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